Bleach: Xcution
by Show Expert 1
Summary: Ichigo and his friends may have succeeded in defeating Aizen, but a new threat is slowly making his way towards Ichigo. With his friends and family being threatened, Ichigo turns to this Xcution, but who are all these people and what does this mysterious person want exactly?
1. Going for a Demon Ride

Going fast makes me feel alive.  
My heart beats in hyper drive.  
Do you think you can win?  
Only if I lose.  
Just let destiny choose.  
I can hear you breathin'.  
I can see you comin'.  
I can feel the wind.  
It's blowing me around.

Take a shot at me runnin' side by side.  
It's a blur... as I go by.  
I can hear you breathin'.  
I can see you comin'.  
I can feel the wind.  
It's blowing me around.

See the sun arising.  
Fire in the sky.  
Greatness thrusts itself into our lives.

"Ichigo!" Isshin was about to slam down on Ichigo while he was asleep, but Ichigo raised his foot and knocked him back.

"Can't you just shout 'get up' like a normal dad?" Ichigo complained as he got up and out of the bed.

"Ichigo, stop messing around with Dad." Yuzu called out.

"We do need to get going for school." Karin said.

"Right. I'm coming." Ichigo said as he grabbed his deck. 'It's been a little over a year since we took down Aizen and those creeps known as the Espada are no more. Now, my friends and I've gone back to dueling just for the fun of the game.' Ichigo narrated. 'Everything has gone back to normal, but I'm actually finding it boring. I'm glad Karakura Town has been safe all this time, but I actually like a little action.' As soon as Ichigo was done with breakfast, he was on his way to school and was just minding his own business.

"Stop, thief! He took my bag." Ichigo looked behind him and saw a thug in a blue hoodie and grey sweat pants running his way and saw the bag he stole.

"Move it!" The guy said and Ichigo did move as he raised his fist and hit him in the gut and tripped him up. Ichigo grabbed the bag and kicked him back.

"Scram." Ichigo said and the thief did just that.

"Hey." Ichigo looked behind him and met with a guy with dark hair combed back, dark pants with a jacket and a white shirt under it with him wearing an X-shape necklace. "Thanks for grabbing my bag for me."

"Sure….." Ichigo said as he looked down at the bag as he handed it over and saw a name. "Kugo."

"You're Ichigo, right? I saw you win a few duels." Kugo said.

"Yeah. Love to talk, but I need to get going." Ichigo said as he kept walking and Kugo seemed glad knowing that was Ichigo. He wasn't the only that spotted Ichigo. Someone else was watching from the shadows.

…

Karakura High

"Ichigo!" Keigo came running at his desk, but he was met with Ichigo's arm.

"How many times are you going to go through that?" Ikakku asked as all of Ichigo's friends gathered around. Orihime ran up to Ichigo and wrapped her arms around him. Ever since Fae and the Soul Society were defeated, Ichigo and Orihime have been dating.

"So what's up?" Ichigo asked.

"Check this out." Yumichika said as he handed Ichigo a flyer.

"A new dueling exhibit in the museum?" Ichigo said as he didn't really find it that interesting.

"And for a limited time, Davis Motomiya's dueling deck will be on display." Renji said.

"Are you serious?!" Ichigo said.

"Sure are. We know how much you admire him." Orihime said. Ever since Ichigo was a child and learned to duel, he idolized the dueling legend, Davis Motomiya.

"You bet. It would be amazing to actually meet him." Ichigo said. "I remember when I was a kid, I saw him and his friends take on that monster who went by Darako."

"Everyone in the world saw that." Uryu said.

"We thought this might catch your interest. Don't you have some dream to take him on yourself?" Rangiku said.

"Like that would actually happen." Renji mocked.

"What did you say?" Ichigo said as he tried to pick another fight with Renji.

"There they go again." Rukia complained.

"Just let them be." Tatsuki said. All of them were close friends, but they weren't the only ones that noticed. Someone was watching them. Uryu thought he saw something, but when he looked, the mystery person was gone.

…..

"Look, I did what you said." The thief from earlier was backed into a corner. He was trapped by a tough guy with a shaved head and buzz Mohawk. He has a bandaged around his right hand and wears a black blazer with black pants and a red shirt with a face on it. He slammed his fist against the wall.

"Yeah and we're not done yet."

"Take it easy, Shishigawara." They both looked down the alleyway and saw a guy with black hair and wore a white collared shirt with black pants that had suspenders. Shishigawara dropped down from his assault.

"Yes, Mr. Tsukishima." Shishigawara said.

"Your name is Shakutsu, right?" Tsukishima asked.

"Why?" Shakutsu asked.

"Don't you remember a favor you owe me?" Tsukishima asked. The sound of his voice caused Skakutsu's mind to go blank and rethink everything.

…

Uryu

"Go on ahead. I can finish up here." Uryu said to a few fellow students. He was cleaning up the outside of the school. Uryu had his guard down and failed to notice someone coming up to him until it was too late. Later, Ichigo was getting a few things from his locker and got some books with Orihime standing by.

"So you ready for dinner tonight?" Ichigo asked as he grabbed her hand.

"Sure am." Orihime said.

"Ichigo!" Chad called out as he and Rukia came running to him.

"What's wrong?" Ichigo asked.

"It's Uryu." Chad said.

"Look at this note. We found it as we passed by Uryu's locker and it's for you." Rukia said as she handed it to him.

"I have your friend, Uryu. Meet me at the construction site at the east side of town at six o'clock. Don't call the police and come alone or else."

"What are you going to do?" Orihime asked, but Ichigo didn't stay to answer as he just took off. That was a clear answer.

…..

The Construction Site

Uryu was unconscious and was right in the middle of the site. Ichigo ran to the gate and saw Uryu just lying there.

"Uryu!" Ichigo said as he raced over to him.

"Hold it." Ichigo stopped where he was and Shakutsu came out from hiding.

"You again? If you were after me, why did you go after Uryu?" Ichigo asked. "What do you want?"

"A little payback and I hear you're pretty good at this game." Shakutsu said as he placed a duel disk on his arm.

"A duel? Fine, but Uryu is coming back when I win. You'll pay for what you did to him." Ichigo said as he put on his duel disk and placed his deck inside. They both activated their duel disks and got ready.

"Duel!" Both of them said.

"I'll start." Ichigo said as he drew a card. "I'll start by summoning my Soul Siege in attack mode." A black armored warrior rose with 1400atk points. "I place two cards face down and end my turn."

"My turn." Shakutsu said and went. "I summon Demon Rider in attack mode." A demonic motorcyclist with a flaming skull for a head rode out with 1500atk points. "Next, I activate Double Summon for me to summon another monster. I'll summon another Demon Rider." A second one joined the field. "I activate both of their abilities. When I have another fiend-type monster on the field, I can deal 600 points of damage. That's 1200 coming your way."

"This is going to hurt." Ichigo complained. Both the demons rode towards Ichigo and slid against the ground with Ichigo getting hit by both of them and his life points dropped to 2800.

"Demon Rider, destroy his Soul Siege." Shakutsu said.

"Not so fast. I activate my face-down, Shrink." Ichigo said. "This spell card cuts the attack points of one monster by half. I'm using it on Soul Siege." Soul Siege got smaller and had only 700atk points.

"Why did you do that to your own monster?" Shakutsu asked.

"So that I can activate my other face-down. My trap, Young Defender." Ichigo said. "If I have a monster with less than 1000atk points being attacked, I can keep it safe and the monster is destroyed." The Demon Rider had its front wheel grind against a barrier and was destroyed.

"You're still taking a hit." Shakutsu said. Ichigo felt the shockwave and his life points dropped to 2000. "Demon Rider number two, attack." His second monster attacked and the same result happened with Ichigo's life points dropping to 1200. "I place one face-down and end my turn."

"Here goes!" Ichigo said as he drew a card and his monster's attack points returned to normal. "I summon Twin Sword Slayer." A warrior carrying two swords rose from the field and had 1600atack points. "Now, I unite my level four, dark attribute Soul Siege and Twin Sword Slayer." Both of them became dark energy and a vortex formed on the ground that the two went through and created a new monster. "I unite summon Zangetsu!" Zangetsu rose on the field with 2500atk points. "I use Zangetsu's ability. One unite unit gives him half of the attack points of one of the monsters used to summon him, but I'm going to use both for both monsters." Both unite units went into Zangetsu's blade and his attack points rose to 4000.

"4000! That's enough to end this duel right here!" Shakutsu said.

"That's exactly what I'm going to do. Zangetsu, attack with **Piercing Heaven**!" Zangetsu slashed down and a blast of energy was heading straight towards him.

"I activate Demon Highway." Shakutsu said. "This trap cuts your attack down to only 500 since I have more than one fiend in my graveyard." He took the attack and his life points dropped to 3500.

"You might have saved yourself this time, but I'll get you next time." Ichigo said. "Since my turn is over, Zangetsu's attack points return to normal." Zangetsu's points dropped down.

"Doubtful that you'll get me." Shakutsu said as he drew another card. "Let's see you get pass this. I summon Demon Engineer in defense mode." A demonic engineer rose up and had 2000def points. "Good luck because you can't destroy him unless your monster is level four or lower. Your Zangetsu is too strong. That bought me some time."

"We'll see about that." Ichigo said as he took his next turn and smiled at the card he drew. "I summon my Swordsman of the Black Blade." A swordsman wearing a black cape and holding a black sword came up and had 1900 attack points. "Next, I activate Moonlight Conversion."

"What's that do?" Shakutsu said.

"It gives my weakest monster to attack twice and give him an additional 200atk points and my weakest right now is Swordsman of the Black Blade." His swordsman's points went to 2100. "That's just enough for him to take down your Demon Engineer. **Black Slice and Dice**." His swordsman slashed against the monster and destroyed. "Also, when he destroys a monster in defense mode and has greater attack points, the difference goes to you as damage." Shakutsu felt the shockwaves and his points went down to 3400. "Don't ever mess with my friends. Zangetsu and Swordsman of the Black Blade, attack him directly." Both of them slashed at Shakutsu and took out the last of his life points. When the duel was over, Ichigo ran straight to Uryu as he started to wake up. "Uryu, are you alright?"

"A bad bruise on my head, but I'll be fine." Uryu said. Ichigo was glad to hear that, but he heard a book close and someone walking.

"Nicely done, but he is a novice duelist." Ichigo turned around and saw Tsukishima.

"Who are you?" Ichigo said. Tsukishima didn't answer as he went behind some of the construction. "Hold it!" Ichigo went after him, but he was already gone. "Where did he go?"

"Just missed him." Ichigo turned again and saw Kugo. He had a look at Shukatsu. "No doubt, this was his doing."

"You again. What's going on?" Ichigo said.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Kugo Ginjou, Ichigo Kurosaki and I can help you with what's to come." Kugo said. A new adventure has begun.

AN: Let me remind you people of a few things.

My bleach/yugioh crossovers are a continuation from my digimon/yugioh stories.

Let me explain how unite summoning works. You take two or more monsters that are the same attribute and combine them. They're levels have to equal the monster you're trying to summon and a unite monster can only be destroyed by another unite monster. They also have unite units. Unite units are like overlay units. They're used to activate the monster's special ability. The more monsters you use, the more unite units the monster has.


	2. Welcome to Xcution

"Xcution?" Kisuke said.

"That's what he told me." Ichigo said. The day after Ichigo encounter the mysterious Tsukishima and Kugo, he and his Rukia, Chad, Renji, and Orihime went to speak with Kisuke and Yoruichi about this. "Though I'm not sure what the deal is with these guys." He thought back to what he and Kugo talked about.

…

Flashback

"So you know what's going on?" Ichigo said. Ichigo just got done with his duel, but Tsukishima managed to escape. Kugo arrived and claimed he knew what this was all about.

"I do." Kugo said.

"You better start talking. Why did that guy I beat go after Uryu?" Ichigo said.

"That guy was probably just doing what Tsukishima told him to do." Kugo said. "It's really you that Tsukishima seems to be after."

"Me? Why?" Ichigo said. Kugo reached inside his jacket and pulled out a passkey with a piece of paper. He handed it over to Ichigo. "What's this?" Ichigo took the card and saw a name on it. "Xcution?"

"It's the name of a group I'm a part of." Kugo said. "We've been keeping an eye out for Tsukishima for a long time. If you want answers, go to the address on the paper and use that passkey to let yourself in. We'll be waiting." Kugo just left things there and Ichigo wondered what this was all about.

End of Flashback

…

"It took me by surprise myself." Ichigo said. "I don't have a clue as to who these people are, but I think it might be worth checking out."

"Ichigo, you're not really thinking this guy is telling the truth, are you?" Rukia said. "Isn't it a little convenient he just showed up right when that other guy vanished?"

"What are you saying?" Ichigo said.

"All I'm saying is that I don't trust these guys and I don't think you should either." Rukia said.

"I'm with Rukia on this." Renji said.

"Well, I say we give this the benefit of the doubt." Orihime said. "If someone is after Ichigo, these people would know something."

"Kisuke, Yoruichi, what do you two think?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm not sure. We don't really have all the information about these people." Yoruichi said.

"It does sound like this requires some looking into." Kisuke said. "Perhaps you should go and meet these people, but keep your guard up. This could easily be a trap."

"I'll go with Ichigo as backup." Chad said.

"Shouldn't we inform the Soul Society about this?" Orihime suggested. "Maybe they can help us."

"If it's only focus on Ichigo, I doubt they would want to get involved because it's only affecting one person so far." Kisuke said. "They're already trying to cover up all the damage Aizen has done and make sure no one like him rises again. If things get worse than they already are, we'll contact them."

"By the way, how is Uryu doing?" Yoruichi asked.

"He's got bad bump on the head, but he'll be alright." Ichigo said as he got up. "Alright. Let's go, Chad. I have the passkey and the address on me." Chad agreed and the two of them headed out.

"Be careful, Ichigo." Orihime said.

…

Ichigo and Chad

The two of them headed further into town known as Naruki City. Chad and Ichigo came up to a place that looked like an apartment building.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Chad said.

"The address is all the same." Ichigo said as he looked at the paper. "These guys are at the top. Let's at least see what they want." Both of them headed near the top of the building until they came up to the door with the same number as the address. "Guess this is it."

"Remember to be careful." Chad said.

"You do the same." Ichigo said as he took out the passkey. He swiped it against a scanner and heard the door unlock. Ichigo opened up the door and the two of them headed inside. They looked around and saw three people already in there. One was a boy dressed in black with blonde hair and playing a video game. The other was an older man that was cleaning glasses and had a dark leather strap over his right eye with him behind a counter cleaning glasses. The third was a women who just sat in the back.

"This it? The place looks nicer on the inside, but I thought there would be more members." Ichigo said.

"Is there something we can help you with?" The man asked.

"Is this Xcution? I'm looking for someone named Kugo Ginjo." Ichigo said.

"Over here." Both of them looked to see Kugo come out from another room. "Ichigo, I'm glad you decided to join us."

"I never said anything about joining you. I'm just here for answers." Ichigo said. Kugo looked and took noticed Chad.

"Who's the big guy?" Kugo asked.

"He's Chad. I brought him depending on how things go." Ichigo said. "I want to know who you people are and who this Tsukishima is."

"Of course. Let me introduce you." Kugo said. "The one ready to serve drinks is Giriko Kutsuzawa. The one playing video games is Yukio Hans Voralberna. The girl hanging in the back is Jackie Tristan. There's one more, but where is she?"

"Riruka, get out here, idiot!" Yukio called out.

"What?!" A door was kicked open and a girl with magenta hair in pigtails. "What is it? I was in the middle of something."

"I just want to introduce you to Ichigo." Kugo said.

"Why do I care about some…?" Riruka stopped talking when she saw him. She felt like someone just shot an arrow at her heart with her face turning red.

"Stop standing like that. You're going to drool." Yukio said and got Riruka to snap out of it.

"So what?" Riruka said as she tried looking away.

"Enough stalling. I want answers as to who this Tsukishima is and who are you people?" Ichigo said.

"Alright." Kugo said. "I'll start by explaining who we are. I guess you can say we're a dueling gang."

"A gang?" Chad asked.

"Yeah, but you don't need to worry. We're not going to shake you down for money or anything." Kugo said. "We were once much larger in numbers. What we all desire is to be among the best in the dueling gang because we all come from a bad past. It's like we were exiled from others."

"So you all decided to come together?" Ichigo said.

"Something like that." Kugo said. "We thought that if we all were exiled out, we help each other and rise together."

"A band that comes together with a common goal." Chad summarized.

"What about this Tsukishima?" Ichigo said.

"Oh…him." Kugo said. "The truth is we've been on a lookout for him for a long time. He actually use to be one of us."

"He was?" Ichigo said.

"That's right, but something happened to him." Kugo said. "Tsukishima claimed that he doesn't need the strength of others anymore. He thought he wasn't getting anywhere with us. He decided to quit. Many of our members were lost because of him."

"He just turned against you guys? That's bad, but what does any of this have to do with me?" Ichigo asked.

"For reasons we don't know, Tsukishima is after you." Kugo said. "I want you to join us because you can help us bring him in and we can get payback. We can also protect you."

"No thanks." Ichigo said and that was not the answer Kugo was expecting.

"Say what?! Who turns down protection?!" Riruka said.

"I don't need protecting. I can handle this guy by myself. He's just one guy." Ichigo said.

"Ichigo, Tsukishima is not to be taken lightly." Kugo said. "He's dangerous. There's no telling what he'll do."

"I think I can handle it. Let's go, Chad." Ichigo said and the two of them left the place.

"So much for him." Jackie said.

"Don't give up on him yet." Kugo said. "Once he sees what Tsukishima is really capable of, he'll come back."

…..

Orihime

"Later, Orihime." Tatsuki said as she and Orihime were parting ways after hanging out. Orihime was on her way home, but she couldn't stop and worry about Ichigo.

"I hope Ichigo is being put in any kind of danger." Orihime said.

"You should be more concerned about yourself." Orihime heard someone behind her and that someone was Shishigawara. He looked like he was ready to rumble with Orihime. "You're in trouble now." He went to attack her, but when Orihime turned around to face him, he was the one who got swept off his feet. 'What a knockout!' He thought.

"Who are you?" Orihime said.

"I'm…..I'm…." Shishigawara really didn't know what to say being around her.

"Honestly, Shishigawara? Surely you can handle a simple girl like her." Orihime looked down an alleyway and saw Tsukishima and she didn't recognized him.

"What's going on? Who are you people?" Orihime said.

"You might know me. I am Tsukishima." That named scared Orihime because she knew this was the person after Ichigo. "What's the matter?" Orihime didn't answer. She just took off to escape the two of them.

"Mr. Tsukishima, allow me to go after her. After all, I am your henchman." Shishigawara said.

"I've told you before you don't have to call yourself that." Tsukishima said. "How strange. I thought that if she was a friend of Ichigo Kurosaki and his girlfriend that she put up a fight."

"She's taken? Oh man." Shishigawara complained.

….

Naruki City

"Ichigo, are you sure about this?" Chad asked as they left the building.

"So far, this Tsukishima guy doesn't seem to be a major threat or anything." Ichigo said. "How bad can this guy really be?" Ichigo heard his phone go off. He took it out and saw it was Orihime. "Hey, Orihime. What's up?"

"Ichigo, I need help! Two guys are after me." Orihime said.

"What?! Okay, head to your apartment and lock the door. Chad and I will be there." Ichigo said and hanged up. "Let's go. Orihime needs help."

…..

Orihime

Orihime made it back to her apartment and there wasn't any sign of Shishigawara or Tsukishima. Orihime thought she was safe.

"It looks like I lost them." Orihime said with relief.

"Not quite." Orihime turned around and saw Tsukishima and held out his duel disk. "Don't worry. This will be over before you even know what happens." He held up a card and suddenly there was a bright green flash. When Orihime called Ichigo, he and Chad hurried right over.

"Orihime!" Ichigo called out when they arrived. When they made it to her floor, they saw she was just sitting on the floor. "Orihime!" Orihime had a blank look on her face, but she snapped out of it when she heard them.

"Orihime, are you alright?" Chad asked.

"Ichigo, Chad!" Orihime said and checked herself for any injuries. "I think so."

"Didn't you say Tsukishima was after you?" Chad said.

"Yeah, but it's strange. I thought he was here." Orihime said. "I remember this bright green light, but everything is a blank after that."

"That sounds like his work." All three of them turned to see Kugo.

"Kugo? You followed us?" Ichigo said.

"This is what I'm talking about." Kugo said. "Tsukishima is dangerous. There's no telling what he'll do. This is only the start. He'll go after your friends and maybe even your family. We can help you though. We can get you strong enough to face Tsukishima and help protect those closest to you." Ichigo would have turned down, but he needs to protect his friends and family.

"Fine. I'll join you guys." Ichigo said.

"Welcome to Xcution." Kugo said.


	3. Playing with Dolls

Ichigo has agreed to become part of Xcution if it means he gets to Tsukishima and those close to him are safe. At the moment, Ichigo and Chad headed right for Xcution's headquarters.

"We're here." Ichigo said as the two came in.

"Glad you made it." Kugo said.

Hold on, what's the big guy doing here?" Riruka said as she pointed to Chad. "I don't remember saying this guy can join in."

"He already knew where our headquarters is." Kugo said. "Besides, he said he wanted to help out Ichigo. I don't see the harm in that."

"Yeah. So chill out and let them do their thing." Yukio said as he continued to play his game.

"Shut up, Yukio. No one asked you." Riruka said.

"Can it you two." Jackie said. "Ginjo, are you sure this is a good idea? What if the guy doesn't meet our expectations? There's also the possibility that Tsukishima will come here if he decides to directly attack Ichigo."

"If he does, we'll be ready. Speaking of which…Riruka, get yourself prepared." Kugo said. Riruka just turned and grabbed her duel disk. "Follow her, Ichigo. The rest of you will come with me." Ichigo followed Riruka and the others soon after. They went into the next room with a smaller room inside it. That's where Riruka and Ichigo went in with the others watching through a window. Ichigo looked and saw it was a duel field.

"Wow! How did you manage to get all of this in here?" Ichigo asked.

"It was all thanks to Yukio. No one else lives in this building so Yukio managed to redesign the whole thing." Riruka said.

"He did? How did he afford it?" Ichigo asked.

"Duh. It's because Yukio is wealthy." Riruka said and that was a surprise to Ichigo. Yukio didn't even look rich in his opinion. "Enough talk. Let's get on with this."

"You're already set to lose to your new crush?" Yukio mocked through a speaker.

"Shut up!" Riruka said.

"Hold on a minute. Why am I dueling now?" Ichigo asked.

"We want to get a good read on your skill level." Kugo said. "Perhaps we can also figure out what it is that Tsukishima wants from you. You'll duel all five of us and Riruka is first."

"Is this really going to help?" Chad said.

"The more you duel, the better you get." Kugo said. "Let's see if Ichigo is the skilled duelist I hear he is."

"Alright, I'm not going easy. You have to come at me with everything you've got." Riruka said.

"That's the only way I know how. Let's do this." Ichigo said as he pulled out his deck and duel disk and placed it on him. Both of them activated them and drew their cards.

"Let's duel!" Both said with 4000LP.

"Ladies first." Riruka said as she drew her card. "I'll start by activating the field spell, Dollhouse." The entire field changed into the inside of a dollhouse.

"Don't you think you're a little old to be playing with dolls?" Ichigo asked.

"I don't think so. Anyway, this house isn't for playing." Riruka said. "If I summon a beast or fairy-type monster, they gain 200atk points. I'll also be allowed to special summon another one. Next, I summon Mr. Pork in attack mode." A pig stuffy with a blue shirt came on the field with 1200atk points.

"You've got to be kidding." Ichigo said as he thought that was the dumbest card he's ever seen.

"Now, for my field spell's ability. He gains more power." Riruka said as the pig's points went to 1400. "Now, I'm able to summon Mr. Rooster." A chicken stuffy came on the field this time and has 1300atk points, but that soon changed and went to 1500. "It's your move."

"Here goes." Ichigo said as he drew a card. "I summon my Reaper of Spirits in attack mode." His reaper was a man with a black cape and hood with a scythe and held 1700atk points. "Reaper, tear up that pig." His reaper went in and slashed against Mr. Pork and destroyed it with Riruka's life points dropping to 3700.

"You dope." Riruka said. "When Mr. Pork is destroyed, I can summon Mr. Pork Beast to the field." A stronger and darker version of Mr. Pork with five eyes came on the field with 1800atk points and it rose to 2000.

"I'll set these two cards and end my turn." Ichigo said.

"My move." Riruka said as she drew her card. "I think I'll add another toy this time."

"I don't think so. I'm activating my face-down: Silent Movie." Ichigo said as the card activated and the whole field turned black and white.

"What happened?" Riruka said.

"Sorry, but for this one turn, none of your spells and traps can work." Ichigo said and Riruka growled with frustration as her monsters' attack points returned to normal.

"Fine. I'll just switch things around and activate my Five Star Revolve spell." Riruka said. "Since I have a level five monster, such as Mr. Pork Beast, all my monsters have their attack points equal his." Mr. Rooster's attack points rose up to 1800. "Mr. Pork Beast, take out Reaper with **Pork-Chop Crush**." The toy pigged chopped at Ichigo's monster and his life points dropped to 3900. "There's more. When he destroys a monster, you take an extra 300 points of damage." The pig chopped at Ichigo and knocked him off his feet with his points dropping to 3600. "There's still Mr. Rooster. Attack with **Chicken Tempest**." The chicken flapped its wings and Ichigo got blasted by wind and his life points went to 1800.

"Am I really getting my butt kicked around by stuffed animals?" Ichigo said.

"Looks like he's done for." Yukio said.

"Don't underestimate Ichigo. He always finds a way to pull out." Chad said.

"It's my turn now." Ichigo said as he went. "Since it's my turn, your monster's attack points return to normal." Mr. Rooster's points dropped back down to 1300. "I'll activate my other trap. It's known as Roaming Lost Soul. By discarding one card, any card I want in my deck comes to my hand." He discarded one card and took out another from his deck.

"That isn't fair." Riruka said.

"It's about to get worse for you once I activate the effect of White Specter." Ichigo said.

"How? You didn't play that card." Riruka said.

"It was the monster I discarded. When he goes to the graveyard because of a card effect, I'm able to summon him to the field." Ichigo said and a faceless white cloaked figure rose up with 1300atk points. "Your monsters also lose 300atk points."

"What?!" Riruka said and her monsters got weaker with them having 1000 and 1500atk points.

"Next, I summon my Reaper Swordsman." Ichigo said. A man in a black kimono and holding a katana came up with 1300atk points. "And now I unite my dark attribute, level three White Specter with level four Reaper Swordsman." Both of them became dark energies and united in a vortex. "I unite summon Chaos Machete." A white armored warrior came on the field and had a white machete and one that was longer with 2800atk points.

"He doesn't look so tough." Riruka said.

"Just you wait." Ichigo said. "Chaos Machete, attack her chicken with **Chaos Decapitation**." His warrior held out both his swords and slashed against Mr. Rooster in a flash of white and blue light with him being destroyed and Riruka's life points dropped to 2100. "There's more. If I use one unite unit, he can attack a second time." One unit entered his shorter machete and he slashed against the pig. It got destroyed and Riruka now has 800LP. "You're lucky because Twin Machete can't use his ability to attack you directly. It's your turn."

"About time." Riruka said. "Since it is my turn, the effects of your Silent Movie is over and my house get its color back." Color was restored into the house. "I think I'll summon my Fairy Doll." A doll dressed like a fairy came on the field with 1000atk points, but that changed to 1200. "Thanks to my Dollhouse, I can summon Pixie Doll in defense mode." A doll looking like a pixie came up and had 200def points.

"But neither of them can take down my monster." Ichigo said.

"I know, but my Fairy Doll's ability is helpful." Riruka said. "She can't be destroyed in battle and I don't take damage as long as there's another fairy-type on the field. It also allows her to attack you directly. Go, **Playful Bash**." The doll slipped right past Ichigo's monster and tackled him with sparkles flying everywhere and his life points dropped to 600.

"He's as good as finished." Yukio said.

"Perhaps there's nothing special about him." Jackie said.

"Don't underestimate Ichigo. It's when he's pushed down hard that he really pulls through." Chad said.

"I place one card face down and end my turn." Riruka said.

"Back to me." Ichigo said as he took his turn.

"Let's just wait one minute. I'm activating my trap, Release of Punishment." Riruka said. "This trap sends one monster on your field back to where it came from. Your Chaos Machete is going bye-bye." His Chaos Machete turned into light and returned to the extra deck. "I also gain 1000 life points." Her life points rose up to 1800. "Your left defenseless. On my next turn, you're done for."

"Don't sound too sure until this duel is over." Ichigo said. "I play my Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." He drew two more and was satisfied with what he drew. "Just what I needed. I'm playing my Monster Reborn and bring back my Reaper of Spirits." His Reaper of Spirits came back with 1700atk points. "I'm also going to bring out my Soul Siege to the field." His black armored warrior rose up with 1400atk points. "Time to end this. I unite my dark attribute, level four Soul Siege and Reaper of Spirits and unite summon Zangetsu." The two formed together and Zangetsu rose to the field with 2500atk points. "Zangetsu, let's take out her Pixie Doll." Zangetsu slashed down and unleashed an energy blast and took out the pixie.

"What good did that do?" Riruka said.

"This is why. It's so I can activate my Spiritual Assistance." Ichigo said. "This spell allows my monster to attack after destroying a monster. Finish this with **Piercing Heaven**." Zangetsu unleashed the attack with Riruka in a panic.

"No fair!" Riruka shouted as she fell down and lost all her life points.

"Impressive. That was one heck of a comeback." Kugo said. Ichigo went over to Riruka and held out his hand.

"Need a little help?" Ichigo said.

"I'm fine." Riruka said as she stood back up.

"What do you think so far?" Chad asked.

"He is pretty good. I think it was a wise choice to let Ichigo join." Kugo said. Ichigo has cleared one trial, but what more is there and what do the other members hold.


	4. Matter of Time

Ichigo has been a part of Xcution for a few days, but he's still trying to maintain his normal life so it's not to draw suspicion to his family and they end up getting involved. Right now, Ichigo was talking with Renji, Rukia, Chad, Uryu, and Orihime.

"So things are going well with this Xcution group?" Rukia asked.

"Yeah. Right now, we're just having one duel after another." Ichigo said. "They want to get a look at my skill and want to try to see what Tsukishima wants with me."

"Who exactly is this Tsukishima?" Uryu asked.

"He was the guy behind that attack on you." Ichigo said. "Apparently, he was once of them, but he ended up betraying them. Orihime, did anything come back to you yet about when he encountered you?"

"No. I'm afraid not." Orihime said.

"Ichigo, do you really trust these people? If Tsukishima use to be one of them, what if this whole things is really a trick?" Rukia said.

"I'm with Rukia on this. You better not get in too deep." Renji said.

"If it means I get closer to Tsukishima, I don't care." Ichigo said.

"We're just worried about you, Ichigo." Orihime said. "If this Tsukishima is dangerous, there's no telling what he could do to you."

"She's got a point." Chad said.

"You guys don't need to worry about me. I'll take care of myself." Ichigo said. "I've got to go. They wanted me to head to their base after school. I'll see you guys later." He said as he walked off.

"I just hope he isn't making a mistake." Uryu said.

"Don't worry about Ichigo. I've got his back." Chad said as he went and followed Ichigo. 'There's something I need to ask Ginjo about anyway.' He thought.

….

Xcution's Base

Giriko was just doing his own thing as he cleaned up some glasses. He took a break from it and dug inside his pocket and pulled out a pocket watch. He opened up and heard the clock continue to tick away.

"You still staring at that thing?" Yukio asked.

"Of course. This watch has been passed down from my family from generations." Giriko said. "I feel as if my father and my wife are still with me. It's just a shame that I might not be able to pass it on." They all heard the door unlocked and Ichigo came right in with Chad. "Right on time."

"Welcome back, Ichigo and Chad." Kugo said. "Ichigo, are you ready for your next opponent?"

"Ready as I'll ever be. Who am I going against this time?" Ichigo said.

"That would be me." Giriko said as he put his watch away. "I am ready as well. No reason to wait around."

"This should be good. I can't remember the last time I saw Giriko in a duel." Jackie said as all of them moved into the back. Giriko and Ichigo went inside and were ready to start their duel.

"I won't hold it against you if you decide to walk away." Giriko said.

"I don't walk away from anything. Let's do this." Ichigo said as they both turned on their duel disks.

"Duel!" Both of them said and had 4000LP.

"I'll start." Ichigo said as he drew his card. "I summon my Swordsman of the Black Blade." His swordsman came out with 1900atk points. "I think that's all I do for right now. I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"You're going to need a lot more than that." Giriko said as he drew his card. "I summon my Kronos Knight in attack mode." A knight in black armor with a clock on its chest came up with 1200atk points. "I use my knight's ability. I take one monster in my hand and remove it from play."

"Why would you do that?" Ichigo said.

"Because it comes out on my field in attack mode." Giriko said.

"I'll just have to end this on my next turn." Ichigo said.

"I'm afraid that isn't possible once I activate my Kronos Spirit spell." Giriko said. "By paying 1000 of my life points, I can start my turn all over." His life points dropped to 3000 and draw another card.

"That isn't fair." Ichigo said.

"I say it is if a card was made to do so." Giriko said. "Since it's my turn again, the monster that was removed from play can return. I bring Future Manipulator." A larger warrior with swords shaped like clock hands came on the field and had 2700atk points. "I use Future Manipulator's special ability. It can send your monster one turn into the future." His swordsman was covered in a light and vanished.

"No." Ichigo said.

"You're left for both of my monsters to attack." Giriko said. Both of them went in and slashed against Ichigo. He went down and his life points dropped down to only 100.

"I can't believe this. He has complete control over this duel and had Ichigo's life points drop to nearly nothing." Chad said.

"Giriko might not have dueled that much, but when he does, he has complete control over it." Riruka said. "Unless Ichigo can figure out how to keep his monsters on the field, he doesn't stand a chance."

"You left me 100 life points." Ichigo said as he managed to get back up. "What's wrong? Didn't had a monster with enough attack points to finish the job?"

"We're testing you and it can't be over too quickly." Giriko said as he placed a face-down.

"You're going to regret that decision." Ichigo said. "I activate Necromancy Contact. First, I have to send all the cards in my hand. Then, I shuffle up my deck. After that, I can draw five new cards. If any of them are monsters, I can bring them out and you take damage equal to the attack points of the strongest." He did all of that and drew five new cards with two spells, and three monsters. "I have three monsters. There's Lunar Reaper, Underworld Guardian, and Soul Seizer." A black cloaked woman with a star staff, a man in gold bone-like armor, and black cloaked magician with a curving hat came up with 1100, 1300, and 1500atk points. "Since Soul Seizer has 1500atk points, he's the strongest and use that much."

"That won't make a difference." Giriko said. A ghostly blast was shot out and blasted Giriko with his life points dropping down to half of what's left.

"I'm not stopping there." Ichigo said. "I unite my dark attribute, level four Underworld Guardian and Soul Seizer." The two became dark energy and combined together. "I unite summon Zangetsu." Zangetsu rose up on the field and held 2500atk points.

"Just what I thought you would do. I activate my Trapped in Time." Giriko said. A giant clock rose up and Zangetsu was pulled in. The clock opened and closed when Zangetsu was placed inside.

"What's going on?" Ichigo said.

"My trap makes it so the monster you just summoned can't protect you or attack for you." Giriko said. "Also, as long as I have a Cronos monster on the field, you can't destroy it.

"No way! Zangetsu is trapped? This can't be. Zangetsu is a part of me." Ichigo said.

"Perhaps, but you can't always rely on Zangetsu." Giriko said. "You only have one monster left to protect you. Once that goes, you're done for."

"Don't bet on it. I'm not going down without a fight." Ichigo said. "I activate Treasure Giving. This spell lets me draw cards equal to Lunar Reaper's level. That means I can draw three cards. I place one face-down and end my turn."

"I guess that means this is the end." Giriko said. "Cronos Knight, destroy Lunar Reaper." His knight held out his sword and was about to strike her down.

"Not so fast. I play my trap! Cross Silence!" Ichigo said. "If I remove a card on the field, I can stop your attack. So I remove my trap, Spiritual Phenomenon, to stop your attack." He released his trap and a cross stopped the attack.

"I'll just attack with Future Manipulator." Giriko said and his other monster was going to attack.

"Cross Silence is still in effect. I'll just release Lunar Reaper." Ichigo said. His monster vanished and the cross stopped the attack.

"So you left your entire field empty. How are you going to get out of this?" Giriko said.

"He's hanging in there, but how is he going to get out of this one?" Yukio said as the rest of the gang watched the duel continue.

"He's got to get smarter. Tsukishima will be even more cunning." Kugo said.

"About that, there's something I want to ask." Chad said.

"What is it?" Kugo asked.

"You said that Tsukishima was dangerous. What about him makes him dangerous?" Chad asked. Kugo thought if he should or shouldn't tell him, but figured it might be for the best.

"Tsukishima wasn't just a duelist. He studied matters of the brain." Kugo said. "Memory, functions, stuff like that. Before he left, he was running an experiment."

"An experiment?" Chad questioned.

"He was trying to find a way to manipulate memories." Kugo said.

"Manipulate memories?!" Chad said.

"Yeah, but he never finished before he left." Kugo said. "My guess is that he's perfected it with his return. People can see him as an old friend or something closer. I didn't say anything because I don't want Ichigo to know. He won't be able to tell who he can trust and can't concentrate on a duel."

"Such as Orihime." Chad said.

"Yeah. So don't say anything and just keep watching." Kugo said as they turned back to the duel.

"Since it's the end of my turn, your Swordsman of the Black Blade returns to your field." Giriko said as Ichigo's monster returned.

'Even so, he's not strong enough to end this. If i don't get something to turn this whole thing around, I'm done for and I don't have Zangetsu.' Ichigo thought as he looked at his deck. 'Wait, he's right. I can't rely on just Zangetsu. I have to believe in my deck.' He placed his hand on his deck and drew. He looked at the cards in his hands and liked what he saw. "I activate Transfer of Bodies."

"What's that?" Giriko said.

"My spell allows me to transfer one monster on my field for one in my hand as long as he has lower attack points." Ichigo said. "I'll switch my swordsman with Soul Siege." His monster switched places and his Soul Siege came out with 1400atk points. "Next, I'm activating my Assembly of Knights spell. If I have Soul Siege out on the field, I can bring out the other two."

"You have two more?!" Giriko said.

"Yeah. Say hi." Ichigo said as two more of his monsters came out. "I'm also going to activate my Knight's Advancement. When I have all three Soul Siege's on the field, I can release all of them to summon Soul Knight Percival!" All three knights were released and a knight in purple and black armor with a red cape and an Excalibur purple sword appeared on the field with 3300atk points.

"My word!" Giriko said with him being amazed.

"Percival's ability activates. He can destroy every monster on your field and he gets an extra 100atk points for each one." Ichigo said. " **Soul Extraction**!" He slashed his sword glowing blue against both monsters and they were destroyed with Percival's points going to 3500. "Percival, attack him directly with **Midnight Slash**!" The knight's sword glowed purple with stars and slashed down on Giriko. He was knocked down and lost all his life points with Ichigo the winner.

"Impressive. I haven't seen a duelist like you in ages." Giriko said.

"Oh yeah. That reminds me that you do seem older than everyone else here." Ichigo said. "So how did a guy like you end up being here?"

"Well, my wife always dreamed of seeing fine young men, such as yourself, to duel with such passion and enjoyment." Giriko said. "I wanted to make that dream a reality and I joined this to help those who do. Ichigo, I'm certain that you will make that happened as well. It's only a matter of time."

"I will." Ichigo said.

….

Tsukishima

Just outside, Tsukishima and Shishigawara were on the roof of the building Xcution used as a hideout. Both of them watched as Chad and Ichigo left.

"Mr. Tsukishima, how come we don't strike now?" Shishigawara said.

"Patients, Shishigawara. We'll have our shot. It's only a matter of time." Tsukishima said. Time….that seems to be something that is running out for Ichigo.


	5. The Duelist of Unite

"Hurry!"

"Sign me up!"

"I want to win!" People were gathering all around at Karakura High. They were opening packets and left with disappointment. Ichigo and his friends decided to check it out and saw Ikkaku dancing around with Yumichika standing by.

"I'm feeling so luck! So, so lucky!"

"What's going on?" Ichigo asked as his and his group met up with them.

"You mean you haven't heard yet?" Ikkaku said.

"There's a contest happening right here." Yumichika said.

"A contest? What kind of contest?" Rukia asked.

"The chance to meet thee Ross." Ikkaku said.

"Who?" Orihime asked.

"Ross! He's the man that created unite summoning!" Ikkaku said. "How could you be going out with a great duelist like Ichigo and not know that? Do you live under a cave?"

"I've heard about him." Uryu said. "He's a famous card designer and created unite summoning."

"I've also heard that his skills match that of Davis Motomiya's. The two of them are close friends."

"On top of that, he holds these rare cards known as the Star Man of Time and Star Man of Space with this one unite monster known as Infinity Knight." Renji said.

"I've also heard he's one of those people that work with these strange creatures called digimon. Wonder why we haven't seen them around." Rukia said as she voiced a question to be left unanswered.

"So what does that have to do with this contest?" Chad asked.

"There's a red, blue, and black ticket inside one little packet." Yumichika said. "You pay a dollar for each packet. If you get the packet with the ticket in it, you get the chance to meet and duel Ross."

"No way!" Ichigo said.

"A bunch of people have already tried, but no winner yet." Ikkaku said.

"Sounds like fun. I think I have a dollar I can spare." Renji said as he went over to the table.

"Good luck. Not that you'll need it because I did my lucky dance and luck is on my side." Ikkaku boasted as he believed he will be the winner. Renji paid for the packet and opened it up with THEE ticket inside.

"I won!" Renji said.

"What?!"

'Me against a professional? There's no way I stand a chance.' Renji doubted.

….

The Duel Field

When word got out Renji was the winner, everyone raced to the duel field of the school so they can meet Ross. Renji was standing on the field and was nervous.

"I hope Renji is ready for this." Ichigo said.

"He looks like he's about to wet his pants." Rukia said.

"And now, the moment we've all been waiting for, here's Ross!" Smoke and confetti shot out by the entrance and Renji became stiff. Ross came through the entrance and walked towards Renji. When he got close enough, he held out his hand.

"A pleasure to meet you. What's your name?" Ross said. Renji snapped him out of it and shook his hand.

"Renji! Renji Abarai!"

"You don't need to act so nervous. I hope you give this duel all you've got." Ross said as he went to take his position. Renji went over to his end was ready to start.

"Is Renji ready for this?" Uryu wondered.

"We can only hope. Either way, we're going to see something awesome." Ichigo said. Ross and Renji activated their duel disks and were set to go.

"Let's duel!" Both of them said and had 4000LP.

"I'll start this off." Renji said as he drew his card. "I'll start by activating my Cost Down spell. So I'll send my Pyro Python to the grave to lower my monsters' levels by two. That allows me to summon Flame Mamba." A giant mamba snake rose up on the field with it surrounded by flames and had 2200atk points. "I place one face down and end my turn."

"My move." Ross said. "I'll start by summoning my Rapid Flying Fighter in attack mode." A humanoid plane machine flew up with 1400atk points and had blasters for hands. "Next, I'm activating my Magical Appearance. This allows a spellcaster to join the field. I summon Chain Magician." A black dressed mysterious magician with chains rose up with 1500atk points.

"Strange. Most duelists have a theme to their decks, but he doesn't." Uryu said.

"The duel is just getting started. Besides, he's a professional." Ichigo said. "Who knows what he's got."

"Next, I activate my Attribute Change spell. This will change my monsters to the attribute I desire." Ross said. "I'll change them in the dark attribute, but since my magician already is that, my Rapid Flying Fire will become one." His machine turned black. "I'm also going to use Chain Magician's ability. Since I'm holding three cards, I can choose his attribute or his level. I'll change him into a level three."

"That can only mean one thing is coming." Renji said.

"You guessed right. I unite my dark attribute, level three Rapid Flying Fighter and Chain Magician." Ross said as the two of them became dark energy and combined together. "I unite summon Chronosaurs Rex." A yellow and purple machine that looked like a tyrannosaurs with a green diamond on its head with 2400def points.

"Unreal! He pulled off a unite summoning on his first turn." Ikkaku said.

"I don't think he's stopping." Chad said.

"I use Rex's ability. I use one unite unit to take control of your monster." Ross said. A unite unit entered its head and it fired a beam that looked like it digitized Renji's mamba and it appeared on his side of the field.

"No way! I can't believe he took my monster." Renji said.

"I'm afraid it's only going to get worse. Flame Mamba, strike your former master." Ross said. The giant snake slithered over to Renji and struck him down with Renji's points going to 1800. "I think I'll end my turn there and since my turn is over, your snake returns to your field." His snake turned to data and returned to Renji.

'I can't take another hit like that. I've got to do something that will prevent him from using my own monster against me." Renji said as he drew his card. He looked over to what he had. "Yeah. This will work."

"You have a plan?" Ross asked.

"You'll see." Renji said. "I'm activating my Burning Poison spell and placing it on Flame Mamba." His snake opened its mouth and its fangs turned purple with it flowing through veins.

"What does that do?" Ross asked.

"I figured a card designer would know. When my snake destroys a monster, he'll deal 500 points of damage." Renji said.

"Not bad, but my mechanical dinosaur still has higher defense points." Ross said.

"Your right. I don't know what I was thinking." Renji said, but Ross wasn't finding that believable. "I think I'll just place one face-down and end my turn."

"What is Renji up to?" Orihime said.

"No clue, but if he doesn't do something, he's done for." Ichigo said.

'I can do this.' Renji thought. 'Once he takes control of my monster, I can activate my Wild Demise trap. This trap destroys one beast or reptile monster my opponent controls and deals damage equal to that monster's attack points. As soon as Flame Mamba is destroyed, Burning Poison's other effect can activate. It will deal an additional 1000 points of damage. He'll be left with only 800 life points.'

"My turn." Ross said. "I summon my Red Bee." A red bee rose on the field and had 1600atk points. "My bee's special ability activates. When it is summoned to the field, it can destroy one monster."

"What?!" Renji said.

"That's right. Your Flame Member is done for." Ross said. His bee shot out a laser from its eyes and destroyed the snake.

"No. My plan revolved around him taking my snake, but at least Burning Poison can still deal damage." Renji said. Flames formed around Ross and was burning against him as his life points dropped to 3000. "Awesome! I actually took life points away from him."

"It was all for nothing. I activate the spell, Angel's Light!" Ross said. "Just like Dian Keto, this card gives me 1000 life points." A bright light shined down on him and restored his life points.

"Oh man. I knew it was too good to be true." Renji said.

"That means there is nothing left from stopping my Red Bee from attacking you directly." Ross said. "Attack with **Burning Red Sting**." The bee flew right at Renji and stung him with Renji's life points dropping all the way down to 200.

"What's going on with Renji? He's not dueling like himself at all." Rukia said.

"You're right, Rukia. He's fallen for everything Ross has thrown at him." Uryu said. "He might be reckless, but not that reckless."

"I was hoping for more of a challenge." Ross said. Renji tried getting back up, but with him up against such a powerful duelist like this, Renji felt like he was an ant compared to a giant.

'It's no use.' Renji thought as he tried to look away. 'I ever went against someone like this. There's no way I can beat him.'

"Don't look away, Renji!" Ross called out and got his attention. "We still have a duel going on."

"But there's no way I can beat someone like you." Renji said.

"Even if that is true, act like a real duelist and go down with a fight." Ross said and that got his attention. "Don't accept defeat until you take at least 100 of my life points and just believe in yourself. Who knows, you might still win."

'He's right. Even if he is a pro, I could still win and if I can't, I need to go down fighting.' Renji thought as he found his courage and got back in this duel. "Here I go!" He drew his card and his friends could see the passion Renji always haves when he duels.

"Looks like he's himself again." Yumichika said.

"Go get him, Renji." Rukia said.

"I play my Magical Mallet spell. Now, I can return all the cards in my hand that I don't want and draw new cards." Renji said. "I'll put the only card in my hand back to my deck and draw a new one."

"Let's see if that one card will change things around." Ross said as Renji drew it.

"Actually, I'm going to get more than one card. I play the trap I played earlier. Ape Ruling." Renji said. "This trap allows me to draw a card for everyone on the field. Since there are five cards on the field, I can draw five cards." Renji drew those cards and had a fresh new hand.

"Awesome! Renji was able to get his entire hand back." Ichigo said.

"I summon Burning Gorilla to the field in attack mode." Renji said as a red gorilla came on the field and had 1800atk points. "I'm also going to play my Wildfire Animal spell. This spell card allows me to summon any beat attribute monster from my deck as long as it has the fire attribute. I think I'll summon my Ember Monkey." His red monkey danced out on the field with 1000atk points. "You're not the only one who can unite summon. I unite my fire attribute, level four Burning Gorilla with my level three Ember Monkey." The two of them became red energy and joined together. "I unite summon Zabimaru!" Zabimaru, a white ape with a snake for a tail, rose on the field and had 2400atk points.

"Impressive." Ross said.

"I'm not stopping there. I use one unite unit to increase his attack points by 500." Renji said. One unit entered through the snake and his attack points went up to 2900. "I'll save one for later. Zabimaru, squash that bee with **Baboon Snake Fury**." Zabimaru charged right at the Red Bee and gave it a powerful punch and destroyed it.

"I activate my trap, Cosmic Rainbow. Thanks to this trap, I gain life points instead of losing them." Ross said as his life points rose to 5300. "However, I can only use this trap the one time."

"That's not a problem for me." Renji said. "I'm activating Grave Flame. This spell deals 400 points of damage for every fire attribute monster in my graveyard. There's a total of four. That's a grand total of 1600 points of damage." Four blasts of fire were shot out and hit Ross with his life points going down to 3700. "That ends my turn."

"That's a whole lot better, but I'm afraid this duel is about to end." Ross said. "My turn. I summon Bright Knight to the field." A white armored knight with a sword and shield came out with 1400atk points. "Thanks to his special ability, I'm able to bring out White Knight." A second knight with just a sword joined the field. "Now, I unite my two knights and unite summon Infinity Knight!" The two became yellow energy and merged together and Infinity Knight, a Knight in gold and white armor with wings, rose and had 2500atk points.

"Amazing! The real Infinity Knight!" Renji said as everyone was amazed.

"Next, I'm activating the Sky's the Limit spell. This will give my monsters an extra 1000atk points and that's enough to end this." Ross said as Infinity Knight's points rose to 3500. "Infinity Knight, destroy Zabimaru with Slash of the Heavens!" Infinity Knight pulled out a sword that shined brightly and slashed down with Zabimaru destroyed and Renji losing the duel, but he was still smiling.

"I knew it would end like this, but I still had fun." Renji said.

"That's good." Ross said as he turned around. "Believe in yourself and you will be a great duelist yourself one day." Ross left things at that as everyone applaud for him and Renji. Renji might have been nervous, but if even a great duelist like Ross can believe in him, he just might make it one day.


	6. Dirty Kickstart

"Here. Give this a try." Giriko said as he handed Ichigo a drink. Ichigo took a sip of it and found it delicious.

"Wow. That's amazing." Ichigo said.

"My own little recipe." Giriko said. Ichigo seems to have settled in with the rest of Xcution, but there was one that hasn't been settled on him being around. Jackie sat in the back and didn't like that he was around.

"What's going on with you?" Riruka said. "You've been sitting here and you've been sulking at Ichigo all day."

"I just don't think all this trouble is worth it." Jackie said.

"What are you talking about?" Riruka said.

"We're training this Ichigo guy so that he be ready for Tsukishima." Jackie said. "What if it doesn't work? I just don't want to see all this trouble be for nothing if Tsukishima gets his way."

"Maybe you'll see for yourself." Riruka said. "Kugo said that you're the next person to duel Ichigo. Maybe once you duel him, you'll see for yourself that we have a chance." Jackie wasn't so sure, but it couldn't hurt.

"Ichigo, let's go!" Jackie called out. All of them headed over to the next room with Chad, Kugo, and Yukio were there and waiting for them. Jackie and Ichigo went inside and were set to go.

"Your name is Jackie, right?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah. What about it?" Jackie asked.

"Nothing. It's just that you haven't talked much since Chad and I came here." Ichigo said.

"I have my reasons. So are we going to start this or not?" Jackie said as she turned on her duel disk. Ichigo did the same.

"So what is Jackie's deal?" Chad asked.

"Jackie sought out to be a great duelist like the rest of us." Kugo said. "However, she lost her brother and her father. She dueled so hard for them, but it wasn't enough. Now, she tries to duel so hard so she doesn't lose someone close to her again."

'I get it. It's just the same as Ichigo. He dueled so hard against people like Fae and Aizen so nothing would happen to us.' Chad thought and turned his attention back to the duel.

"Here we go! Let's duel!" Ichigo and Jackie said as they were ready to start the duel.

"I'll go first!" Jackie said as she drew her card. "I'll start by summoning by Mud Golem in attack mode." A golem made out of rocks and stones rose on the field and had 1400atk points. "I'm also going to activate my Muddy Water field spell."

"Muddy Water?" Ichigo said. He watched the area changed into a place with rock columns with muddy water on the floor. "This could get dirty."

"Thanks to my field spell, my earth and water attribute monsters deal an additional 500 points of damage whenever they attack." Jackie said. "I'll also place this card facedown and end my turn."

"My move!" Ichigo said. "I'll start by summoning my Twin Sword Slayer in attack mode." His swordsmen came up on the field with 1600atk points. "Next, I'm activating Twice the Element. This spell allows me to summon a monster that's the same attribute as the monster I have on the field. So I think I'll summon out Soul Seizer on the field." His magician-like figure rose on the field with 1500atk points.

"I think I can see where this is going." Jackie said.

"Let's see if you're right. I unite my dark attribute, level four Twin Sword Slayer and Soul Seizer." Ichigo said as the two of them became energy and joined together. "I unite summon Zangetsu." Zangetsu rose out on the field and had 2500atk points.

"I thought he learned from our duel not to rely on Zangetsu all the time." Giriko said.

"He must have a plan." Riruka said.

"Zangetsu, take down that Mud Golem with **Piercing Heaven**." Ichigo said. Zangetsu slashed down and unleashed a blast of energy that destroyed the golem and Jackie's life points dropped to 2900.

"Why didn't you use Zangetsu's ability to deal even more damage?" Jackie said.

"I thought about that, but I figured I save it for when I need it." Ichigo said.

"Wise choice." Jackie said. "I suppose you are learning from all this training."

"I place a face-down and end my turn." Ichigo said.

"My move." Jackie said. "I'll start by activating my face-down, Mud Swamp. This trap gives me two Mud Toad tokens." Two muddy toads came on the field and had no attack points. "Then, I'm activating Mud Formation. This bring out an earth attribute monster in my grave if it has 1500 or less attack points. I'm bringing back my Mud Golem." Her golem rose back on the field. "Now I unite my earth attribute, level three Mud Golem with my level one Mud Toad tokens."

"What?!" Ichigo said.

"Did you think you're the only one who can unite summon." Jackie said as the three became orange energy and all three of them joined together. "I unite summon Dirty Boots." A woman with black and white clothes wearing a white scarf and wore a hat with a piece of cloth hanging off it. It also held 2000atk points.

"That monster is far too weak to take on Zangetsu." Ichigo said. "What is she up to?"

"I'll show you. I activate Mud Golem's special ability. With it in my graveyard, I can give an earth attribute monster another 700atk points." Jackie said. Mud formed around her monster and its attack strength went up to 2700. "I'm afraid it's going to get much worse. I use one unite unit to activate her special ability. She gains 300atk points for each earth attribute monster in my grave." One unit entered her legs and her points went up to 300.

"This isn't looking good. She keeps getting stronger." Ichigo said.

"I guess you can say the dirtier she gets, the stronger she becomes." Jackie said. "I'm also going to activate my Dirt Cloak equip spell." A dust cloud formed around her monster. "This will keep her safe from being destroyed and she's unaffected by the special abilities of your monster. Now, attack his Zangetsu with **Earth Shattering Kick**." Her Dirty Boots charged right at Zangetsu and gave him a powerful kick with an intense shockwave. "And don't forget my field spell deals 500 points of extra damage." Ichigo felt the shockwaves and his life points dropped down 300. "I think that's enough for this turn."

"Here I go." Ichigo said as he drew his card. "I'll start by activating my trap card. Battle Division. This trap card lowers your monster's attack points by my life points by cutting them in half." His life points dropped down to 1500. Then, Dirty Boots points dropped down to 1500. "I summon my Swordsman of the Black Blade in attack mode." His swordsman came up with 1900atk points. "Now attack her Dirty Boots with **Black Slice and Dice**." His monster slashed against her Dirty Boots and her life points dropped to 2500.

"What gives? Why wasn't it destroyed?" Riruka said.

"That's the drawback of using Battle Division. The monster can't be destroyed in battle." Yukio said. "That effect will stay like that as long as Battle Division remains on the field."

"It's your turn." Ichigo said.

"Here goes. I'll start by sending my Mud Mole to the graveyard." Jackie said as she discarded the card. "By sending my Mud Mole to the graveyard, I'm able to destroy one spell or trap." A muddy mole rose out of the ground and dragged Ichigo's Battle Division to the grave. "That will restore Dirty Boot's points and by using a unite unit and having another earth attribute monster in my grave, she gains 300 more attack points." Her monster had another unit entered her leg and her points went up to 3300.

"One kick from that monster and I'm done for." Ichigo said.

"You've got that right. Dirty Boots, finish him off with **Earth Shattering Kick**." Jackie said. Her monster leaped towards his monster and held her leg out. Dirty Boots struck the swordsman and it was destroyed with an explosion going off. "With my field spell, this is the end."

"Not quite." Ichigo said as he showed he was still standing with his life points at 600.

"How did you survive that?" Jackie said. She took a look and saw a shadow with a monster's face on it. "What is that thing?"

"You're not the only one who can discard monsters to use their special abilities." Ichigo said. "Before your attack landed, I sent my Shapeless Shadow to the graveyard and weaken the damage by 1000."

"So you survived another turn. Let's see if you can still turn this around." Jackie said.

"Gladly." Ichigo said as he drew his next card. "I play Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." He drew his two cards and looked over at what he had. "I summon the Black Shihaku in attack mode." A being in black energy that looked like a shihakusho with a blade attached and had waving black eyes and hair and also had 1900atk points.

"What good will that monster do? It's weaker than my Dirty Boots." Jackie said.

"It's so I can play this spell." Ichigo said as he activated the spell. "It's known as Black Bringer. This spell only works when Black Shihaku is on the field. This spell allows him to attack you directly."

"He can?!" Jackie said.

"Watch. Attack her directly with **Darkened Slash**!" Ichigo said. His monster moved with great speed and slashed against Jackie and her life points dropped to 600.

"All you did was make our life points even." Jackie said.

"Not quite. He has another ability." Ichigo said. "When he deals direct damage, he can switch himself with a monster in my graveyard. He might lose half of his attack points, but he is able to attack directly. So I'll switch him with Zangetsu." Black Shihaku disappeared and Zangetsu rose up with 1250atk points. "Now finish this!" Zangetsu moved in and slashed against Jackie and ended the duel with Ichigo winning.

"Not bad." Jackie said as the field cleared up. "Perhaps you do have what it takes to beat Tsukishima. You certainly know how to handle a deck."

"Thanks, I just hope I'm up for the task. He's already gotten to Orihime. I don't want my other friends to get hurt or anything because of him." Ichigo said.

"I'm sure you will." Jackie said. She now believes Ichigo will be able to beat Tsukishima no matter what trouble might come.

….

The Kurosakis

"I did it! Look, Karin. I got an A on my test." Yuzu said as she was cheering around.

"Good for you." Karin said. Then, they heard a knock at the door. "Who could that be?"

"Don't know. Dad is out and so is Ichigo." Yuzu said. Both of them went over to the door and saw Tsukishima standing there.

"Hello there." Tsukishima said.

"Who are you?" Karin asked.

"Is there something we can help you with?" Yuzu said.

"I just need one little thing." Tsukishima said and the next thing shown was a bright green flash coming from the house. Tsukishima has made another attack and is playing dirty by targeting Ichigo's sisters. What could he be up to?


	7. Invaders from Virtual

"Alright." Ichigo said. He and Chad hanged at Xcution's hideout and Ichigo was ready to start the next part of his little training. "Kugo, I've defeated most members of this group. What's left?"

"Hang on." Kugo said. "You haven't defeated all of us yet. You still got a couple more duels to get through. Your next opponent will be against Yukio. Yo, Yukio."

"Hang on." Yukio said as he continued to play away at his video game.

"Is all he ever does is play that stupid little game?" Ichigo said.

"Basically." Kugo said.

"Yukio, it's your turn to duel Ichigo. Put that dumb game away for once and focus on the task at hand." Riruka demanded.

"Fine." Yukio said as he turned off his game and placed it in his pocket. "I don't see why I have to get involved, but if it means you all will quit bugging me." He got up and went to the next room.

"What's the matter with him?" Ichigo asked.

"I guess he feels lonely." Kugo said. "You see, Yukio lost his parents and he never had that many friends. Growing up like that, Yukio grew distant from others. So try not to take what he says personally." Ichigo understood. Growing up without people that care about you can be really hard. Speaking of keeping distant, Ichigo noticed that Chad wasn't around.

"I wonder where Chad is." Ichigo said.

…

Orihime

Orihime was doing some work as she got a job at a bakery. She just finished a batch of bread when she heard the door open and saw Chad.

"Chad! What are you doing here?" Orihime asked.

"I actually placed a to-go order." Chad said.

"Right. I have it right here." Orihime said. Chad kept a close eye on her. Chad noticed that Tsukishima hasn't attacked again since he made himself known. "Here you go." She said as she handed it over.

"Thanks." Chad said as he took it and left the place.

'Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary with Orihime, but Tsukishima hasn't attacked since he went after Orihime.' Chad thought. 'I've got to figure out what he's up to before he strikes again.'

…

Xcution's Hideout

Ichigo and Yukio took their places on the duel field. Ichigo looked ready to go, but Yukio didn't as much.

"You could crack a smile or something." Ichigo said as he activated his duel disk.

"Let's just do this." Yukio said as he turned his duel disk on as well.

"Let's duel!" Both of them said and had 4000LP.

"I'll start this. I draw." Yukio said and drew the card. "I'll activate my Terraforming spell. This allows me to take any field spell in my deck and add it to my hand."

"Another field spell?!" Ichigo complained. "So where are you going to take me this time.

"A place known as Virtual World." Yukio said. The entire field changed around with the floor a wireframe and the top green. That was it. Nothing else was there. "Next, I summon my Virtual Invader Hunter to the field in attack mode." A code appeared and formed a dark blue alien with claws, tails, fangs, and large teeth. It also had 1400atk points. "I think that's enough for this turn."

"My move." Ichigo said as he took his turn and analyzed what he did. 'He didn't play a spell or trap. This field spell must do something, but there's only one way to find out.' He thought. "I'll start by summoning my Underworld Guardian in attack mode." His guardian rose to the field and had 1300atk points. "I'll also equip him with the Black and White Katana." His guardian gained a sword that was striped black and white. His guardian's attack points rose up to 2200. "Attack his hunter."

"Idiot." Yukio whispered. His guardian went for the attack and slashed against the creature and it was destroyed with Yukio's life points dropping to 3200.

"I thought you had something planned." Ichigo said.

"Watch. I knew you were going to attack." Yukio said. A digital code formed and the alien returned.

"What? I just beat that thing." Ichigo said.

"That's the effects of my Virtual World." Yukio said. "At the end of the battle phase, all destroyed monsters are returned. It's sort of like an extra life in a video game."

"I see, but that rule has to apply for me too." Ichigo said.

"Yes, but that won't be happening." Yukio said. "Your dueling strategies have become predictable and I can anticipate every single one of them."

"No way." Ichigo said.

"Don't believe me? I'll show you." Yukio said as he drew his next card. "I'll activate my Three Players. This spell allows me to summon two copies as one of my Virtual Invaders. I'll summon two more Virtual Invader Hunters." Two more of his aliens rose up with 1400atk points. "Next, I'm activating the Bonus Points spell. This spell will have one monster on my field have 100 more attack points than your monster, but it's the only one I can attack with." One of his aliens' attack points went up to 2300. "Destroy his Underworld Guardian with **Invasion Delete**." The claws of his strongest alien glowed green and destroyed and Ichigo's life points dropped to 3900.

"I guess it's a good thing my Underworld Guardian will come back." Ichigo said.

"Not quite. I activate Permanent Delete. This spell takes one monster in your grave and remove it from play." Yukio said. "Since your monster isn't in your grave anymore, it is unable to come back."

"Dang it." Ichigo said.

"I place one face-down to end my turn." Yukio said.

"I don't get it. Why did you summon out those other two aliens if you weren't going to attack?" Ichigo said.

"You'll find out." Yukio said.

"Yukio's playing Ichigo like he plays his dumb games." Riruka said.

"He's been studying him and all his duels." Kugo said. "Yukio knows what Ichigo will do and can counter each one of his attacks. This will show how Ichigo handles himself when his opponent can predict all his moves."

'This guy really knows what he's doing.' Ichigo thought. 'If I'm going to win this, I'll have to do something he WOULDN'T expect.' He drew his card, but didn't see anything in his hand that could help.

"You asked why I summoned the other two." Yukio said and got Ichigo's attention. "Here's why. I activate the trap known as Triple Threat. Since I have three exact copies of the same monster, this trap will take 900 of your life points." A blast of lightning came out and blasted Ichigo with his life points dropping to 3000.

"Not good. Come his next turn, those monsters will finish me." Ichigo said. "I should be able to buy some time. I summon Kon the Lion in attack mode." A stuffed lion came on the field with 300atk points.

"Didn't you say something to Riruka about her being too old for toys like that?" Yukio said.

"Shut up. I place one card facedown and end my turn." Ichigo said.

"My turn." Yukio said as he drew his next card. "I guess it's time I put an end to this. I'll have my first hunter tear up that lion." His hunter alien went to attack.

"I activate Kon's ability." Ichigo said. "If I sacrifice him, I can end the battle phase." Kon shined like a star and stopped the attack. "That bought me some time."

"You're not escaping damage." Yukio said. "I expected you to use that toy's ability. So I'm going to use my spell, Damage Controller. I can only activate this right when the Battle Phase ends. This spell deals 300 points of damage for each of my monster's that haven't attack." Ichigo got zapped and his life points dropped to 2100.

"He has a counter attack for everything I've done. There's got to be something I can do to stop him." Ichigo said.

"You would only be wasting time." Yukio said. "I summon my Virtual Invader Sniper." An alien with the same features, but looked more human with a blaster joined the field with 1700atk points. "Since I also have four Virtual Invaders on the field, I can special summon the Virtual Invade Destroyer." A giant space ship realized a visual form and floated above Ichigo with it having 2800atk points.

"This isn't going to go well." Ichigo said.

"It won't. Thanks to my Virtual Invader Sniper's ability, he can deal 200 points of damage each turn for every monster on my field." Yukio said. The alien blasted Ichigo for each monster and Ichigo's life points went to 1100.

"Guess playing all those games didn't turn Yukio's brain into mush. He's doing well against Ichigo." Jackie said.

"You're right. He's in a lot of trouble." Giriko said.

"I believe this will be where Ichigo makes a comeback." Kugo said.

"It's the end of my turn. You can go now….not that it will make much difference." Yukio said.

"We'll see about that." Ichigo said as he drew his next card and saw something that might get him out of this mess. "I summon Lunar Reaper in attack mode." His lady reaper came up with 1100atk points. "I activate Moon Sediment. This spell only works when Lunar Reaper is on the field. It allows me to destroy a spell or trap and gain 700 life points.

"Let me guess. You're going to destroy my field spell." Yukio said.

"Wrong. I'm destroying my face-down." Ichigo said and his own card was destroyed and that was a surprise to Yukio with Ichigo's life points going to 1800.

"Why would you destroy your own card?" Yukio said.

"Because the card I destroyed was Moon Fragments. When this trap is destroyed, I'm able to draw two more cards." Ichigo said.

"You destroyed your own card just to get two cards? I actually didn't see that coming." Yukio said. "You just better hope they're good cards." Ichigo drew his cards and liked what he drew with it a spell and a monster.

"They are. I activate Tribute Pleasing." Ichigo said. "Even after I performed a normal summon, I can perform a tribute summon and this spell allows me to treat one monster as two. All I have to do is give up 800 life points. I tribute Lunar Reaper to summon Skeletal Reaper." His monster vanished, with Ichigo's points dropping to 1000, and in its place came a man in a black bodysuit with white armor and a stripe across his face with a machete-like blade. It also had 2900atk points.

"While that is impressive, it's still not enough to win." Yukio said.

"Actually, it is." Ichigo said. "You see, he has a special ability that allows him to attack all your monsters on the field and he gains 200 extra attack points for each monster he destroys."

"Each monster?" Riruka said.

"That means Ichigo is going to win." Giriko said.

"And it's game over for Yukio." Jackie said.

"Because all Ichigo has to do is attack two of those hunters." Kugo said.

"Skeletal Reaper, finish this with **Flashing Slice Finish**!" Ichigo said. His monster moved incredibly fast with blue energy around his sword and destroyed one of the hunters and Yukio's points dropped to 1700 and Skeletal Reaper's strength rose to 3100. "That's one. Time for number two." His reaper slashed down another alien and destroyed it with Yukio losing the duel.

"Okay, that was a surprise in that last move." Yukio said.

"Each of you are good. You all had me there in each duel." Ichigo said.

"Sure did, but your next duel won't be as easy." Kugo said as he came into the room. "Because your next opponent is going to be against me."

….

Chad

Chad continued his search for Tsukishima, but he was all out of leads and had no clue as to where he could find Tsukishima.

"Chad!" Chad turned around and saw Uryu behind him.

"Uryu?" Chad said.

"What are you doing out here?" Uryu said.

"I'm trying to find Tsukishima." Chad said.

"Isn't it dangerous to find him on your own?" Uryu said.

"Perhaps, but he hasn't made another attack. I'm trying to figure out what he's up to exactly." Chad said. They stopped their conversation when they saw a bright green flash. "What was that?"

"Let's go find out." Uryu said as the two of them went to check it out. They looked around, but saw no one. They just saw Tatsuki, Keigo, and Mizuiro walking by and they acted like nothing happened.

"It's just Keigo and the others." Chad said.

"But what was that flash?" Uryu said. What neither of them knew was that Tsukishima was right above them. He kept making his moves without being noticed. It might game over for everyone soon.


	8. Overworking

"Oh man. If I don't hurry, I'm going to be late." Ichigo said. He was running through the streets, He was in hurry or else he was going to be late for school. "I just had to spend all night preparing my deck for when I duel Kugo." Ichigo wasn't slowing down and that caused him to run into Uryu when he stepped out in front of Ichigo. It caused Uryu to drop his cards everywhere.

"Watch where you're going, Ichigo." Uryu said as he tried to pick up all his cards.

"Sorry, Uryu." Ichigo said as he tried to help him out.

"Here, let me help you." An older man with dark blue hair stopped by and helped with the cards and handed them all over to Uryu.

"Thank you, Mister….?" Uryu said as he tried to ask for a name.

"Ken. Ken Ichijoji."

"Uryu, we better get going or we'll be late." Ichigo said as they got moving.

"What? If we're late, I blame you." Uryu said as both of them got running to school. Ken looked down and saw Uryu forgot a card and it was his best one, Quincy Quattro.

…..

The School

"What kept you two?" Rukia said. Ichigo and Uryu were able to make it to school, but just barely.

"It was Ichigo's fault." Uryu said. "I was on my way until he ran into me. I had to stop and pick up all of my cards."

"I said I was sorry." Ichigo said.

"I don't have time for foolishness, Ichigo." Uryu said as he got to work on his schoolwork. "I have studying to do, homework to get done, and I'm in charge of some activities. As the class president, I have much to do."

"Uryu, you need to chill." Renji said.

"Renji's right. You've been working yourself so hard that you don't have time for us anymore." Orihime said. "After all, we're all friends here."

"I'm sorry, but I just don't have the time." Uryu said as he got straight to work. While that was going on, Ken was watching them from the windows and he had his eyes on Uryu. During his free time, Uryu was spending every moment he could on his work. Even during lunch while everyone was eating on the roof. Ichigo, Chad, Keigo, Mizuiro, and Renji were finding it hard to believe.

"Uryu, you need to relax." Ichigo said.

"Seriously. If lunch was for studying, we be in the library." Keigo said.

"Unlike you slackers, I care about my future." Uryu said.

"What?! Are you saying we don't care?!" Ichigo said as he was getting frustrated.

"Chill, Ichigo." Renji said as he placed his hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "There's no reason to get so worked up."

"Your friends are right here." All of them looked to the door and saw Ken arrived.

"It's you again!" Ichigo said.

"Mr. Ichijoji!" Uryu said.

"Nice to see the two of you again." Ken said. "I came because you forgot to grab this." Ken handed over Uryu's card and he was surprised.

"Oh man. I was in such a hurry that I didn't even noticed it." Uryu said as he took his card. "This card is my best. I can't afford to lose it."

"Who is this guy again?" Mizuiro asked.

"His name is Ken. He helped me and Uryu out on our way to school." Ichigo said.

"Ken? Ken Ichijoji? Where have I heard that name before?" Renji said as he tried to think of it.

"I might not be a famous duelist like my best friend, but I can still hold my own with some cards." Ken said.

"Oh! I've heard of you." Mizuiro said. "You're claimed to be best friends with the famous duelist, Davis Motomiya. On top of that, you are a real genius all the way in Tamachi."

"Yep. That's me." Ken said.

"Wow! I can't believe it!" Ichigo said.

"So what are you doing here?" Keigo asked.

"I'm actually here to help out at the museum." Ken said. "In case you haven't heard, Davis' deck will be on display for a while there. He asked me to make sure everything is going well here."

"That's awesome." Chad said. Ken looked over to Uryu.

"Your name is Uryu, right?" Ken said.

"Yes. Why?" Uryu asked.

"I was wondering if you would like to have a duel with me." Ken said.

"A duel? What for?" Uryu said.

"It's been a long time since I've had one." Ken said. "There's just something about you that remind me of myself. So what do you say?"

"I don't know. I have a lot to do." Uryu said.

"Come on, Uryu. There's always time for a duel." Ichigo said.

"Your friend is right. What do you say?" Ken said. Uryu thought about it and figured he had time for just one.

"Alright, but we'll have to make it fast." Uryu said. Both of them took their positions and activated their duel disks.

"Let's duel!" Both of them said with a full 4000LP.

"I'll make the first move." Uryu said. "I summon Blue Archer to the field in attack mode." A blue dressed archer came on the field with 1300atk poins. "I use Blue Archer's special ability to deal 300 points of direct damage." His archer fired an arrow and hit Ken with it with his points dropping to 3700. "I place two cards facedown and end my turn."

"My turn." Ken said as he drew his card. "I'll start by summoning Mystic Knight." A white armored knight came on the field and drew his sword with 1400atk points. "Then, I activate Demise Burial. So when a monster leaves the field this turn, it will count as a destruction."

"Why would he play a card like that?" Ichigo said.

"Only one reason. He's going to sacrifice that knight." Renji said.

"I activate Tribute Doll. Now, I sacrifice my knight to summon a stronger monster." Ken said. The knight was surrounded in dark aura and was destroyed. "I summon Ultra Chimera." A feathered wing dark chimera with the head of a goat, lion, and tiger came on the field with 2600atk points. "There's more. Since my spell counted my knight's sacrifice as a destruction, his ability activates. You lose 500 life points." Uryu was surrounded in a white aura and his points dropped 3500.

"This guy has got skill." Ichigo said.

"No kidding. He's already got a strong monster out and he's not done yet." Keigo said.

"I activate my Ultra Chimera's ability. If I send the top card in my deck to the grave, I can destroy one card on your field." Ken said as he did just that. "Go, **Triple Ultra Roar**." The chimera unleashed a roar and destroyed Uryu's archer. "I place this facedown and end my turn."

"Hold on. Why didn't he attack?" Keigo said.

"Did you skip that class?" Renji said. "When a monster is summoned with Tribute Doll, that monster is unable to attack this turn."

"He might also be cautious of his two face-downs." Keigo said.

"It's my turn." Uryu said as he drew his next. "I'll start by activating by trap. It's known as Assaultive of Arrows." Hundreds of arrows rained down and impaled the chimera and the card. "Thanks to this trap, you can't attack or use your monster's special ability. You also can't use your face-down."

"Awesome. Uryu just incapacitated his monster. So he should be safe for a while as long as that trap remains on the field." Renji said.

"Next, I use my other trap, Threads of Life." Uryu said. "This trap brings back the last monster that was destroyed. Since my Blue Archer was the last monster destroyed, he's coming back." Threads reached don a dark hole and his archer came back. "Blue Archer, fire away with your special ability." His archer fired and struck Ken again with his life points dropping to 3400. "Next, I sacrifice my Blue Archer to summon Quincy Ancient." His archer vanished and another one appeared with white and blue clothing and wore a metal bow on his wrist and also had 2000atk points. "I'll end my turn."

"That's it? I thought he had more." Keigo said.

"He's got to have some sort of plan." Ichigo said.

"What's going on? I thought you wanted to end this quickly?" Ken said.

"I have my reasons." Uryu said. 'I just need to hold out on my next turn. During my standby phase, Quincy Ancient will gain 400atk points. If I'm also able to bring out Quincy Quattro, my win is guaranteed.' He thought.

"It's my turn." Ken said as he drew his next card. "I summon Lone Star Warrior in attack mode." A gladiator holding a spear and shield with a star on it came up with 1600atk points. "Next, I'm activating the effects of Spore Imp in my graveyard. It's the card I discarded earlier." A little imp appeared on Ken's shoulder with spores being released. "It allows me to draw an extra card if I remove him from play. I think I'll use it right now. I activate Show Kindness. This spell gives all the attack points of a monster I discard to another. I'll send my Forest Dragon to the grave. That will give my Lone Star Warrior 1500atk points." His gladiator's points went up to 3100.

"Uh oh!" Uryu said.

"Uh oh is right. Lone Star Warrior, attack Quincy Ancient with **Star Spear**!" Ken ordered. His warrior threw the spear and it took off like a shooting star and struck through it and destroyed it with Uryu's life points dropping to 2400. "His special ability now activates. I gain life points equal to the damage you took." His life points rose to 4500. "Such a shame right. You put up all that work and effort and it all comes crashing down."

"What are you talking about?" Uryu asked.

"Uryu, I think you're putting too much of yourself out there." Ken said. "I've been keeping my eye on you. You're putting too much effort into your work and ignore what's around you."

"I have not." Uryu said.

"Yes you have. You were doing work every time you have free time." Ken said. "I was once the same way myself and I lost sight of what was important."

"Important?" Uryu wondered as to what he meant. Ken motioned his head and Uryu saw he was referring to Ichigo and the others.

"Putting effort into your work is a good thing so you don't fall behind, but it's important not to forget what you have in your life that is important." Ken said. "After all, if you do that and all that work and effort ends up being for nothing, you'll have nothing."

"I think I get it. Don't shut out the people I consider my friends." Uryu said and he smiled with an adjustment of his glasses. "I see your point."

"Better hurry or we're going to be late for class." Keigo said.

"I'm not too worried about that. Let's end this." Uryu said.

"It's your turn and since it's my end of my turn, my warrior loses it's extra power." Ken said as his gladiator returned to normal. Uryu drew his next card.

"I summon my Quincy Blade Arrow in attack mode." Uryu said. He summoned another archer with it hold a bow and a blade and had 1800atk points. "Next, I activate Justification of the Quincy. Now, my Quincy Blade Arrow can be treated as two monsters." His monster was copied I now unite my two level four, light attribute Quincy Blade Arrows." The two copies became yellow energy that merged together. "I unite summon Quincy Quattro." His archer was dressed in blue and white and his bow was made from energy. He also had 3000atk points.

"That is quite the impressive monster." Ken complimented.

"I activate his special ability. By using one unite unit, I'm able to destroy one monster on the field." Uryu said. One unit entered the bow and he was preparing to fire. "I'll take out your Ultra Chimera." He fired the arrow and the chimera was destroyed. "I can only use that ability once a turn, but that's fine. Attack with **Soul Slicing Arrow**." His archer fired off a large arrow and destroyed Lone Star Warrior and Ken's life points dropped down to 2900.

"Not bad." Ken said.

"That's the end of my turn." Uryu said.

"My move." Ken said. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon."

"Mystical Space Typhoon! That means he can destroy any spell or trap." Ichigo said. A tornado blew in and destroyed Uryu's Assaultive of Arrows and freed his card.

"I activate my trap. Overthrow the Empeor." Ken said. "Since I have more life points, it allows me to draw two more cards, but there's more. I am able to summon a monster that has attack points equal or less than my life points. I summon my ace monster, Stingmon." A green human insect came on the field and had 2400atk points.

"An impressive monster, but it can't beat mine." Uryu said.

"That doesn't matter." Ken said. "I activate Electric Whip. My whip gives him an extra 700atk points." Stingmon was given a whip with electricity running through it and his points rose to 3100. "Attack!" Stingmon lashed at the whip and it struck Quincy Quattro with Uryu's life points dropping to 2300.

"Nice try, but only a unite monster can destroy another unite monster." Uryu said.

"I know. That's why I'm activating the spell card known as Diversionary Strike." Ken said. "When I fail to destroy a monster, this spell allows my monster to strike you directly." Stingmon lashed the whip and Uryu got hit and electrocuted with all of his life points dropping to nothing.

"Unreal. Uryu lost!" Chad said as none of them believed it. Ken walked over and helped Uryu up.

"Seems like I got through to you." Ken said.

"You're right. Thank you for reminding me my friends are just as important as my work." Uryu said.

"That was a great duel, but we better hurry or we'll be late." Keigo said and they got running.

"You guys never change. I'll take care of it" Uryu said as he learned to been more relaxed and remembered to be there for his friends.


	9. Execute Xcution

Ichigo was heading his way over to Xcution's hideout. He thought over all the battles he's had up until now.

'So far I've faced Riruka, Jackie, Giriko, and Yukio.' Ichigo thought. 'That only leaves Kugo. Maybe once I get through this duel, I can finally go after this Tsukishima person.' He was so focused on getting pass this last training session that he failed to notice Shishigawara and Tsukishima was watching them.

"I don't get it. He's the one that we're after. Why don't we just strike?" Shishigawara said.

"Patience, Shishigawara. All good things come to those who wait." Tsukishima said. Ichigo headed for the hideout and went right on inside where everyone else was waiting for him.

"Glad you could make it." Kugo said. "I hope you're ready because this duel isn't going to be like any of the others."

….

Byakuya

The Soul Society was an organization in Karakura Town. They originally sought out to destroy the duel monster spirit world, but Ichigo put a stop to them. One member was Byakuya Kuchiki, Rukia's brother. He was in the middle of work when he heard his door open.

"Hello brother." Rukia said as she was the one that entered.

"Is there something I can help you with, Rukia?" Byakuya said without taking his eyes off of work.

"No. I knew how busy you and Jushiro are so I thought I just bring you both some lunch." Rukia said as she placed a tray of food by his desk.

"I see. Thank you." Byakuya said. Rukia left things there, but Byakuya could tell something was wrong. "Rukia, is there something that's troubling you? You've seemed to be distant."

"It's nothing you need to worry about Byakuya." Rukia said and just left. 'I wish I could ask for your help, but I know you don't want to be bothered with little things such as this. Who is this Tsukishima? For that matter, who is this Xcution group? I still don't trust them. I just hope Ichigo isn't making a big mistake.'

…..

Urahara Shop

"So this Tsukishima is hard to find." Kisuke said as he was having tea with Renji.

"Looks like it." Renji said. "Chad and Uryu tried to find some information on him, but every time they think they have him, he disappears. What do you think is going on?"

"Well, he's appeared around Orihime with Ichigo's friends. I'm concerned that Ichigo's family might have been targeted too." Kisuke said.

"So he's going after those who are close to Ichigo, but why?" Renji said. "What could Tsukishima possibly want with Ichigo?"

"I'm not sure. I'm afraid there aren't enough pieces to this puzzle." Kisuke said. "We also can't go to those who became Tsukishima's victims because their memories have been affected."

"You're right. Chad told me that Tsukishima is able to manipulate a person's memories." Renji said. "What could he possibly gain with all this?"

"I say all we can do right now is just keep our eyes open for anything out of the ordinary." Kisuke said. Renji thought so too, but with not knowing what to be on the lookout for, he wasn't sure what he could do.

…

Xcution's Hideout

Chad came in the hideout for he wanted to see Ichigo go against Kugo. He went into the back with the duel field.

"Chad, just in time." Jackie said.

"Have they started yet?" Chad asked.

"They're just about to." Riruka said as they saw Kugo and Ichigo shuffling at their decks.

"Okay. Are you ready for this Ichigo?" Kugo said. "I'm not like the others. This duel won't be as easy as the other ones."

"All you're doing is making me more excited." Ichigo said as he placed his deck inside his duel disk and got ready. Kugo did the same and they were both ready to get started.

"Let's duel!" Both of them said and had 4000 life points.

"The first move is mine. I draw." Ichigo said as he drew his card. "I summon my Reaper of Spirits in attack mode." His reaper rose on the field and had 1700atk points. "I'll place one card facedown to end my turn."

"My turn. I draw." Kugo said. "I summon Scaffold Knight in attack mode." A knight with skeletal armor came on the field and had 1800atk points. "Next, I'm activating the Path of Scaffold."

"What does that do?" Ichigo said.

"Path of scaffold allows a monster on my field to attack you directly if it has Scaffold in its name." Kugo said. a path was formed that led to Ichigo. The knight ran along the path and slashed against Ichigo with his life points dropping to 2200.

"That's some ability." Ichigo said.

"There's more. When my knight deals some damage, I get to draw an extra card." Kugo said as he took that card. "Next, I place a face-down to end my turn."

"My move." Ichigo said as he drew his card. "I summon Soul Siege in attack mode." His black armored knight came on the field with 1400atk points. "Next, I unite my dark attribute, level four Soul Siege and Reaper of Spirits." The two became dark energy and merged together. "I unite summon Zangetsu!" Zangetsu rose on the field with his 2500atk points.

"What's next? Are you going to activate Zangetsu's ability?" Kugo said.

"Actually no. I'm going to activate my trap, Spiritual Phenomenon." Ichigo said. "If I sacrifice my life points, maximum being 1000, and Zangetsu becomes stronger by that amount. I think I'll give up just half that amount and make Zangetsu 500 points stronger." Ichigo was surrounded by a blue aura with his life points dropping to 1700. Zangetsu's strength rose to 3000. "Zangetsu, strike Scaffold Knight with **Piercing Heaven**." Zangetsu slashed down and released the energy with Kugo's knight getting blasted and Kugo's life points dropped, but it only dropped to 3400 and his knight was still standing. "Wait, I don't understand. How is it still standing?"

"It's because I activated my face-down." Kugo said as he showed it. "It's called Scaffold Frame. This trap keeps my Scaffold Knight safe and only does half the damage."

"Wow! Not bad." Ichigo said.

"I have to say Ichigo, I'm impressed with your Zangetsu." Kugo said.

"You haven't seen anything yet." Ichigo said. "I'll let you in on a little something. Zangetsu can actually get a lot stronger. If you push me hard enough, I just might show you."

"Well, looks like I'll have to do what I can to get you to show me that power." Kugo said. "It's my turn now and because it is, your Zangetsu loses all that extra power." Zangetsu's points returned to normal. "I think I'll release my Scaffold Knight from duty so that I can summon Scaffold Sargent." His knight was released and a bigger and stronger knight appeared and held a halberd. It also possessed 2300atk points. "Next, I equip my soldier with my Skeletal Axe." His monster's halberd changed into a giant axe with a skull on it and it's attack points grew to 2700. "Attack!"

"Say what?" Ichigo said. His monster swung the axe down, but Zangetsu blocked it. Ichigo felt the shockwaves from the impact and Ichigo's life points dropped to 1500.

"Kugo knows that Zangetsu is a unite card and can only be destroyed by another unite card." Riruka said. "How come he attacked?"

"Obviously he has a plan." Yukio said. "Zangetsu might not be destroyed, but he's still dealing damage and Ichigo's getting put in a tough situation."

"I think that's enough for this turn." Kugo said.

"Is that all you've got?" Ichigo said. "I figured with all your talk, you put up more of a fight. It's my move. I activate Zangetsu's ability. Half of Soul Siege's attack points will be added to his and your monster is going to lose the same amount." One unite unit entered Zangetsu's blade and his attack points rose to 3200 while Scaffold Sargent's dropped to 2000. "Let's try this again. Zangetsu, strike down his knight." Zangetsu unleashed his attack again, but Kugo wasn't concerned. Scaffold Sargent blocked the attack and Kugo's life points dropped to 2200.

"Not so fast. By sending my Skeletal Axe to the grave, I can save my monster from being destroyed." Kugo said and the axe was destroyed.

"Oh man. He really knows how to keep his monsters around." Ichigo said. "I think that's all I'll do for this turn."

"Is that so?" Kugo said as he drew his card and enjoyed what he was seeing. "Nice. You've shown me your best, Ichigo. This time, I'm going to show you my best. I play…." Kugo didn't get to finish his play as the lights went out.

"What's happening?" Chad said.

"Perhaps we blew a fuse." Giriko said. Then, they heard smashing sounds coming from the other room.

"What's going on out there?" Jackie said. All of them went to check it out and when they entered and saw Shishigawara tearing their place apart.

"Nice place if you're a bunch of losers." Shishigawara said.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ichigo said.

"Just making myself comfortable. Later." Shishigawara said as he ran out the door.

"Get back here!" Kugo said as he, Ichigo, and Chad went after him. Shishigawara made it to the streets. Kugo kept going after him, but came to a stop. "Stop!" He held out his arms and stopped Ichigo and Chad.

"What's the matter?" Ichigo said, but he looked ahead and saw the problem. Tsukishima was standing right in front of them. "You again!"

"Kugo, is that who I think it is?" Chad asked.

"Yeah. Tsukishima." Kugo said.

"Ginjo! I's been a long time." Tsukishima said. "How are the others doing? I hope Yukio isn't playing too many video games. He should be reading more. How about Riruka? I hope she's been behaving herself."

"Why are you here? Have you decided to finally show yourself and face us?" Kugo said.

"Not exactly." Tsukishima said as he held out his activated duel disk and held out a card. Ichigo and the others got ready for whatever he might try. Tsukishima played the card and it caused some explosions to go off at the top of the building.

"Our hideout!" Kugo said.

"So long." Tsukishima said as he made a run for it.

"Hold it!" Ichigo said as he was going to go after him.

"Don't, Ichigo." Kugo said as Ichigo stopped in his tracks. "We need to make sure the others are unharmed." Ichigo wanted to go after him, but he also knew Kugo was right. All of them raced back up to the top and saw all of them managed to get out of the ruble.

"Is everyone okay?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah. Most of the explosions came from the lower level." Giriko said.

"Did he show up just to destroy the base?" Chad said.

"It makes sense. He must be trying to weaken our forces." Yukio said.

"Guys, I'm sorry about this." Ichigo said.

"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault." Kugo said. "We'll be alright. All this shows Tsukishima is a dangerous guy."

"Tsukishima, I don't know what you want from me, but I'll do anything to stop you." Ichigo vowed. Tsukishima is making his move, but he keeps targeting people close to Ichigo and now this. What could he be after?


	10. Fist of Demise

"So Tsukishima destroyed Xcution's base?" Orihime said. Ichigo and Chad just informed the others about what Tsukishima just did.

"Yeah. It came without any warning." Ichigo said.

"Luckily no one is hurt." Chad said.

"That is some good news, but why would Tsukishima just attack like that? None of his pattern of attacks have matched up." Renji said as he tried to figure out the angle he was working.

"So what happened to Kugo and the others?" Rukia asked.

"Yukio's a rich guy and because of that, they have a couple other places they can go to." Ichigo said. "Well, I better head on home. I'll see you guys later and keep an eye open for anything out of the ordinary." Ichigo grabbed his bag and headed on home.

"I better get going too." Rukia said.

"I'll walk you home." Renji said as the two of the left together. Everyone just left things at that. Since there wasn't much else they could do, all they can is hope for the best.

….

Chad

Chad was prepping his deck as he was about to get ready to head out. Chad put on his duel disk and he believed he was ready to go. He headed out of his apartment and Orihime was there and waiting for him.

"Are you ready to go?" Chad asked.

"I'm all set." Orihime said and the two of them went to take care of everything on their own.

…

Ichigo

Ichigo was just about home. He came to a stop when he saw Kugo was waiting for him right outside of his home.

"Kugo? What are you doing here?" Ichigo said. With everything that has happened, he came to the assumption that something was wrong. "Is there something wrong?"

"No. You worry too much." Kugo said. "I only came because I wanted to talk to you about something."

"What is it?" Ichigo said. Kugo walked to stand next to Ichigo to try and keep this secret.

"I know you want to go after Tsukishima, but you can't." Kugo said.

"What?!" Ichigo said. "Are you saying I should just ignore him and the fact that he's attacking people?"

"I didn't say that." Kugo said. "All I'm saying is that you need to think smart. You coming to him is exactly what he wants. We still don't have a clue as to what he wants from you."

"Kugo, I'm not going to stay out of this. If it means that he'll be stopped, I don't care if I fall into his clutches." Ichigo said. "I'm not going to standby and do nothing while he's assaulting people."

"I know that. All I'm saying is that you need to be careful." Kugo said. "That's all I came here to talk to you about." Kugo left things at that and just left.

'I know that I need to be careful, but it's hard to ignore the fact that Tsukishima is attacking people.' Ichigo thought. 'I'm the one he wants. Why won't that coward just come directly to me? Next time I see him, he's going to get it.' Kugo kept on walking and was hoping for the best.

"I really hope that Ichigo takes my advice." Kugo said. He kept on walking until he looked over to his left and spotted Riruka. "Riruka?" He noticed that Riruka kept looking up and down the road.

"So far so good." Riruka said to herself.

"What are you doing?" Kugo said as he stood right next to her and scared Riruka.

"Don't scare me like that!" Riruka said as she kicked him in the gut.

"Ow! What was that for? What are you even doing here?" Kugo said.

"None of your business." Riruka said as she looked away from him, but Kugo could see she had a little blush coming to her face.

"Don't tell me you're still crushing on Ichigo." Kugo taunted and it looked like Kugo hit the nail on the head. "He has a girlfriend you know."

"I know and I know she's pretty, sweet, has a strong sweet tooth." Riruka said.

"How do you know all that about her?" Kugo said. Riruka realized all the things she said and figured she was in trouble. "Have you been following Ichigo and his friends around?"

"No." Riruka said as she tried to hide the fact that she has been.

"You know, I've heard about Orihime. She's almost like you, but she's a lot sweeter." Kugo said. "I bet you and she could actually be great friends." Riruka got anxious and kicked Kugo right in the shin and walked away with Kugo hopping on one leg in pain.

"That's for saying I'm not sweet." Riruka said.

"I'm going to get her." Kugo gritted through his teeth.

…

Naruki City

Chad and Orihime headed back into Naruki City. The two of them decided to try and investigate more about Tsukishima. At the moment, the two of them were standing in front of a high school.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Orihime said.

"I remember seeing that guy that worked for Tsukishima." Chad said. "I've seen his uniform before. This is the same high school that has the same uniform. Maybe we can find a clue here."

"Let's go check it out." Chad said. He went up to the door, but it was locked and he couldn't get it open. "Locked."

"Now what do we do?" Orihime said.

"I could try to break the door down." Chad said.

"Is there a plan that won't get us arrested?" Orihime said as she knew that was a bad idea.

"Let's see if there's another place that is unlocked." Chad said. They both had a look around the school, but all the doors and windows were locked and they couldn't get inside. "Any luck?"

"No. It doesn't look like there's anyone inside either. Isn't that a little strange?"

"You're right." Chad said. "It doesn't seem like there's anything we can do. Let's head back to Karakura Town." With nothing left for them, they just decide to head home. However, they failed to notice they were being followed. They just passed under a train railroad. "Maybe we should try and look at the places he's been spotted."

"Good idea." Orihime said. "If this guy is after Ichigo, I'll do everything I can to stop him."

"Maybe I can help. I heard you were looking for me." They looked down on the other side of the street and saw him.

"Tsukishima!" Orihime said.

"So you've decided to show yourself." Chad said.

"You went through all the trouble to find me. I thought I just come to you." Tsukishima said.

"Have you been following us?" Chad said.

"Perhaps. No matter. You came here to find me and here I am." Tsukishima said as he took a step closer. Chad got in front of Orihime to protect her and held out his duel disk. "So you want to duel me?"

"I came here so I can defeat you." Chad said. "Bring your deck out and let's do this."

"If you insist." Tsukishima said as he held out his duel disk and placed his deck in. He turned it on and got ready.

"Let's duel!" Both of them said and had 4000LP.

"I'll start this duel." Chad said as he drew his first card. "I summon my Brazo Direct on the field." A black armored man with red linings came on the field and had 1400atk points. "Next, I'm activating Brazo Direct's special ability. Since he's the only monster on my field, I can summon another monster as long as it's level four or lower. I summon Brazo Thrust Arm." A different man in black armor with a red stripe on his arms came up and had 1300atk points.

"Chad hass two level four monsters and they're both of the earth attribute. That can only mean one thing." Orihime said.

"I unite both my level four, earth attribute Brazo Thrust Arm and Brazo Direct." Chad said. Both his monsters became orange energy and came together. "I unite summon Brazo Gigante Diablo." His new monster rose with half of his body being black and the other half white with red markings all over. His right arm was also like a shield. His monster also had 2600atk points.

"A unite summoning on his first turn. Not bad." Tsukishima said.

"You're just lucky I can't attack on my first turn. Make your move." Chad said.

"Thank you." Tsukishima said as he drew his card. "I activate my Book of the End of the spell." He played the spell and it unleashed a bright green light. "They say this spell allows you to look back to who you were and has led you to now. Do you two remember?"

"What are you talking about?" Chad said.

"Orihime, do you remember me?" Tsukishima said. Chad looked over to Orihime and she looked mesmerized in the eyes. "Don't you remember all the times we had together?"

"Remember?" Orihime questioned and she felt her head was tearing up as flash images of her and her past were showing and he was there. Orihime held her head as it hurt. Chad was worried about her and remembered what Kugo told him about what Tsukishima was learning.

"This must have been what Kugo was trying to tell me. He's changing her memories." Chad said. "He already struck Orihime before. He must be reestablishing the hypnosis. Orihime, try to block him out."

"Why would she do that? We've been friends for a long time." Tsukishima said.

"You! What did you do to her?!" Chad said.

"What I'm about to do to you." Tsukishima said. Chad looked over and saw his monster was being drawn over to his side. "Remember." Tsukishima's voice was starting to echo in Chad's head. "Look back and remember. I was in your life before. Try to remember."

"No. Block him out." Chad said, but it was useless. Tsukishima's voice was in his head. He was starting to take over Chad's mind.

…

Uryu

Uryu was walking his way home. He came to a stop. Uryu felt a cold shiver run down his spine as he looked up to the sky and felt something was wrong.

"I don't like this one little bit." Uryu said.

….

Ichigo

Ichigo was in his room and he just stared out the window. He also felt that something was wrong. He heard something fell over. He looked and saw it was a photo. He held it up and saw it was of him and his friends.

"That's not a good sign." Ichigo said.

…..

Chad

Chad's duel against Tsukishima wasn't going well for him. Chad's own monster attacked him and it eliminated the last of his life points. Chad sought out to bring Tsukishima's demise, but his own fist brought his own demise.

"Good." Tsukishima said. He walked over to an unconscious Chad and Orihime. "All the pieces are falling into place."


	11. Book of the End Pt1

Kugo was just relaxing in a chair. He was looking over all the footage they caught of Ichigo and his dueling against all the members of Xcution.

"He's come quite the long way." Kugo said. "If things go well, we might have a chance against Tsukishima and he won't be a problem anymore." He looked behind him and saw all the other members remained quiet. "What's the matter with all of you? Cat got your tongue or something?"

"It's not that." Jackie said.

"We just feel it's time to do what we were suppose to do." Yukio said. Kugo didn't understand, but the way they were standing and staring at him wasn't a pleasing feeling.

…

Uryu

Uryu was doing some investigating to Tsukishima himself. He tried to get a hold of Chad and Orihime, but there was no answer on the phone. He was starting to get concerned and wondered what was going on.

"No word from Chad or Orihime. What happened to them?" Uryu said.

"Hey, Uryu!" Uryu looked down the street and saw Keigo with Tatsuki and Mizuiro.

"What are all of you doing out here?" Uryu said.

"We were just called to meet up with Ichigo at his house." Tatsuki said.

"Do you want to come?" Keigo said.

"No thanks. There's something I'm looking into at the moment." Uryu said.

"Okay. Suit yourself." Keigo said and the three of them kept walking. Uryu kept an eye on those three. He remembered the three of them were attacked by Tsukishima before, but that's what he found strange. 'All three of them were attacked by Tsukishima, I know it, but they don't act like it. What is going on?' He thought. Uryu kept walking and tried to figure this out, but Tsukishima was a very mysterious man. None of what he's done has made any sense.

"Come on, you two. Let's go out and party." Uryu looked ahead and saw Rangiku with Yumichika and Ikkaku.

"That's all you ever do." Ikkaku said.

"It might not be such a bad idea." Yumichika said. Then, he looked up and saw Uryu standing there. "Hello, Uryu."

"Good evening." Uryu said. "Can I ask you three something? Do you know anything about a man named Tsukishima?"

"Tsukishima?" Ikkaku questioned.

"I think I heard Orihime mention him." Rangiku said as she tried to think back. "Didn't she say something about him being a danger to Ichigo?"

'It seems like he hasn't gotten to them yet.' Uryu said.

"I don't get it. Why is someone after him?" Ikkaku said. "How could someone even know about Ichigo?"

"That is strange. I've seen Tsukishima target Keigo, Mizuiro, and Tatsuki and I'm worried he might have gotten to his sisters as well." Uryu said. "None of it makes sense."

"How would he even know about any of them? Unless someone is telling him." Yumichika said as a joke, but that had Uryu thinking.

"Wait. What if Tsukishima isn't working alone, but who else could he be working with?" Uryu said.

…

Ichigo

Ichigo just stayed in his room as he looked out into the moonless night sky. He wanted nothing more than to go out and go after Tsukishima, but he knew going after him would be pointless.

"What are you waiting for? If it's me you want, just come and get me." Ichigo said.

"Ichigo, could you come down here? We have a visitor." Yuzu called out and she sounded happy.

"Okay. I'm coming." Ichigo said as he got out of bed and was heading downstairs where Yuzu was waiting for him.

"Come on, come on. Hurry up." Yuzu said.

"What's the matter with you? Who's here visiting at this hour?" Ichigo said.

"It's an old friend. Someone we haven't seen in a long time." Yuzu said. Ichigo went to the next room, but it wasn't someone he saw as a friend sitting on the couch.

"Long time no see, Ichigo."

"Tsukishima?!" Ichigo said.

"Isn't it great?" Yuzu said that surprised Ichigo. "We haven't seen Tsukishima in a long time." Ichigo didn't understand why Yuzu would say that. She shouldn't even know about Tsukishima.

"He just came over by surprise." Karin said. Ichigo didn't get why Karin and Yuzu were acting like they were friends with Tsukishima.

"I was in town and I thought I pay a surprise visit." Tsukishima said. "It's great seeing my favorite set of twins. How's the man of the house doing?"

"Tsukishima!" Ichigo called out as he grabbed him by the collar of the shirt and lifted him up. "What are you doing here?"

"Ichigo, what are you doing?" Karin said as she and Yuzu tried to get him to let go.

"Why are you acting like this? Aren't you happy to see him?" Yuzu said.

"Tsukishima, what have you done to my sisters?" Ichigo said. "Why are they acting like you're a friend?"

"Ichigo!" Ichigo let go of Tsukishima as he knew that voice it belonged to Keigo. He looked back and saw Keigo with Tatsuki and Mizuiro in his home.

"Keigo? Guys? What are all of you doing here?" Ichigo asked.

"Tsukishima asked us over." Keigo said.

"How's it going Tsukishima?" Mizuiro said.

"We haven't seen you in a long time." Tatsuki said. This was starting to frighten Ichigo. None of them should know about Tsukishima, but it's only because he didn't know of what Tsukishima was capable of.

"I thought it would be a great idea to have a get together." Tsukishima said and Ichigo felt like Tsukishima was taunting him. "I think I'll give Chad and Orihime a call. Maybe Renji, Rukia, and Uryu too." He reached inside his pocket for a phone, but Ichigo wasn't going to allow Tsukishima to endanger his friends if he was here for him.

"Tsukishima!" Ichigo shouted as he knocked him off his feet and he hit the wall. "What have you done to everyone?"

"Ichigo!" Tatsuki shouted as she ran right to his side. "What's the matter with you?!"

"Wait…" "I don't want to hear it. Apologize to Tsukishima." Tatsuki demanded.

"Ichigo, what's the matter with you?" Keigo said.

"Why are you being so mean?" Yuzu said.

"What's the matter with all of you?" Ichigo said. "None of you even knew Tsukishima existed until now."

"What are you talking about?" Karin said.

"We've all known Tsukishima for years. In fact, we're all friends because of him." Mizuiro said. Ichigo didn't understand what was going on. All of them were telling him to apologize and understand what was wrong with him. Ichigo felt like he was being haunted and the people he knew were gone. Ichigo couldn't take it anymore and just decided to run out the door.

"What's going on? Is this Tsukishima's doing? How?" Ichigo said as he was freaking out. He feels like his closest friends have betrayed and abandoned him.

"Ichigo!" Ichigo turned around and was met with Kugo.

"Kugo? What's going on?" Ichigo said.

"It's Tsukishima. He's gotten to the others." Kugo said.

"What do you mean? Are you saying he's messed with their heads too?" Ichigo said.

"I'm afraid so." Kugo said. Both of them took cover behind some buildings so if someone under Tsukishima's command couldn't find them. "This is my fault. I should have warned you, but I was afraid of how it would affect you."

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo said.

"Tsukishima has quite the ability." Kugo said. "Tsukishima has found a way to use a form of hypnosis with his cards. It affects a person's memories. He has them believing he's an old friend or a family member."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Ichigo said.

"Then, you wouldn't know who to trust. You be going into a battle completely alone and if you wish to have a chance against Tsukishima, you need to be completely focused. That ship has sailed." Kugo said.

"So how does he do it?" Ichigo said.

"It's all in a card." Kugo said. "It's in the spell that he treasures known as Book of the End."

"Never heard of it." Ichigo said.

"It's a quick-play spell. That spell allows him to take control of one monster you control until the end of your turn when he activates it on his turn or vice versa." Kugo said.

"So how do we break his hypnosis over them?" Ichigo said.

"Would you like me to do it for you?" Both of them looked down the alleyway and saw Tsukishima standing there.

"Tsukishima!" Ichigo shouted as he went after him. Tsukishima made a run for it.

"Ichigo, come back! It's got to be a trap." Kugo said as he went to help Ichigo.

…..

The Park

Ichigo and Kugo followed Tsukishima all the way to the park. Tsukishima stood right in the center and was waiting for them.

"Tsukishima, change everyone's memories back to normal." Ichigo demanded. "Who are you to manipulate people's memories?"

"If you want to stop me, I'm right here. That is if you have the guts to do it?" Tsukishima taunted. Ichigo's hatred for him only grew stronger.

"Why you?!" Ichigo said as he went to attack.

"Ichigo, wait!" Kugo said as he tried to stop him, but Ichigo didn't listen. Ichigo was about to throw a punch, but it was blocked by someone who he wasn't expecting.

"Chad?!" Ichigo said.

"Mr. Tsukishima!" Ichigo looked behind him and saw Orihime, his girlfriend, and she was running straight to Tsukishima. "Are you alright?"

"I am now that you're here." Tsukishima said.

"Chad, Orihime, what are you doing? Have you two lost your minds too?" Ichigo said.

"What are you talking about, Ichigo? You're the one who seems to have lost his mind." Ichigo said.

"Ichigo, why are you picking a fight with Tsukishima?" Orihime said. "Have you forgotten all that he's done? Such as how he helped you defeat Fae or saving Rukia when the Soul Society would use her energy to try and destroy the duel monster spirit world?"

"Or the time we went to save Orihime from Aizen or how we defeated Aizen?" Chad said. "It's all because we had him to help us."

"No." Ichigo said as he was all shaken up by it.

"He's gotten to them too. We've got to do something." Kugo said.

"It seems Ichigo has some sort of problem with me." Tsukishima said. "There's only one way duelists solve their problems. Kugo, since you're here too, let's make this a tag duel. Chad, be my partner?"

"Of course." Chad said.

"Don't hide behind my friends. Duel me yourself." Ichigo said.

"Ichigo, let's do what he says. You can't face him while you're all worked up like this." Kugo said. He placed on his duel disk and Ichigo saw Tsukishima and Chad doing the same. He knew there was only one way out of this. He placed his duel disk on and got ready as all four of them were ready.

"Let's duel!" All of them said and had a combined power of 8000LP each.

"I'll be the one to start this. I summon Scaffold Knight in attack mode." Kugo said. His knight rose on the field with all 1800atk points. "I place one face-down and end my turn. Remember that since this is a tag duel, neither duelist can attack until they all went at least once."

"My turn." Chad said. "I summon Brazo Thrust Arm." His monster rose on the field and had 1300atk points. "Next, I'm activating the continuous spell known as Muscle Power. This spell will give him 500atk points each time the battle phase starts. That ends my turn."

"My turn." Ichigo said. "I summon my Swordsman of the Black Blade in attack mode." His swordsman rose up and had 1900atk points. "I place two cards facedown and end my turn."

"My move." Tsukishima said as he took his turn.

"Over there! It's a duel." Ichigo looked behind Tsukishima and saw all his friends and sisters under his control. He could see they were all siding with him.

"No." Ichigo whispered as he blamed himself for this happening. "I could have prevented this. I was the one he was after." While this duel was going on, the members of Xcution with Shishigawara watched from the top of a building.

"It's working." Jackie said.

"Sure is. He's blaming himself for this happening to his friends. Despair and hatred will blind him and he'll be ours." Yukio said, but Riruka seemed to be the only one who didn't love it. Tsukishima has played out everything to this moment and Ichigo has fallen right into his hands.

To Be Continued….


	12. Book of the End Pt2

Ichigo has fallen into Tsukishima's hands. Most of his friends and his sisters have fallen under the effect of Tsukishima's hypnosis. He had to tag duel with Kugo and they were against Chad and Tsukishima. The duel just started with Ichigo having two face-downs with his Swordsman of the Black Blade and Kugo had his Scaffold Knight with his own face-down. Chad had his Brazo Thrust Arm and a continuous spell known as Muscle Power. It was also Tsukishima's turn.

"It's my turn now and I'll summon Memory Sightseer Symmtry." Tsukishima said and a monster that looked like an ink blot that looked like a bat came on the field with 1200atk points.

"Be careful, Ichigo. We can't allow him to use the Book of the End spell." Kugo said.

"I know that, but what's with that weird looking monster." Ichigo said.

"Ichigo, what's the matter with you? You know of Tsukishima's deck." Tatsuki said.

"What?" Ichigo said.

"Tsukishima's cards are like how doctors look into a person's inner thoughts like a therapist." Kugo said. "Be careful or it might make it all the easier for him to brainwash you."

"Next, I think I'm going to use Memory Sightseer Symmtry's ability." Tsukishima said. "It allows me to see the top card of an opponent's deck. Let's see the top card of your deck, Ichigo." Ichigo drew the card and they all saw it was Reaper of Spirits. "I see. Thank you. Now that card goes back to the top of your deck."

"I don't get it." Ichigo said as he placed the card back. "Why use that ability?"

"Because he knows what will be coming. That means he can set the perfect counter measures." Kugo said.

"That might be true, but I'll just end my turn." Tsukishima said.

"What could he be up to?" Kugo said. "Oh well. There's only one way to know for sure what he's got for us. It's my turn now. I'll start by activating my trap, Remains of the Forgotten. By sending a monster in my hand to the graveyard, I can deal damage equal to that monster's attack points. I'll discard another Scaffold Knight. That's 1800 points of damage coming your way." He discarded his card and a green blast was heading straight towards Tsukishima.

"Tsukishima!" Chad called out as he shouted in concern.

"There's no need to worry." Tsukishima said. The blast hit him, but he wasn't pushed back at all and the life points didn't go down at all.

"Why didn't your life points go down?" Ichigo said.

"Wait for it." Tsukishima said. The blast reformed on his end and it hit Kugo instead with him being shoved down and their life points went down to 6200.

"What's going on?" Ichigo said.

"'It's simple." Tsukishima said. Ichigo looked behind Tsukishima and saw another ink blot that looked like a butterfly. "I sent Memory Sightseer Insigh to the grave thanks to his ability. Doing that means I can reflect all damage back at my opponent and I take no damage."

"Awesome!" Keigo said.

"He was able to avoid taking massive damage with a single blow and redirect it with just a single card." Yuzu said.

"Did you expect anything less?" Karin said.

"Mr. Tsukishima is amazing!" Orihime said.

"Stop it, guys! He's the enemy." Ichigo said.

"Enemy? What are you even talking about?" Karin said.

"It's no good, Ichigo. We can't do anything to have them snap out of it unless we can get Tsukishima to do it." Kugo said.

"I don't have a clue as to what you're talking about." Tsukishima said. "There's also one other thing you should know about. When Memory Sightseer Insigh goes to the graveyard, no monsters with more attack points can attack until the start of my next turn. Insigh had a total of 1500atk points."

"Darn it. That means neither of our monsters can attack." Kugo said.

"So is there anything else you like to try?" Tsukishima said.

"No. I'll end my turn." Kugo said.

"My turn." Chad said. "I think I'll attack with Brazo Thrust Arm. Since he has less than 1500atk points, he's not affected by Insigh's ability and my spell gives him another 500atk points and since it's a spell that gives him power, he still won't be held back." Muscles grew on his monster and its attack points rose to 1800.

"But why? Even if you attack, your monster doesn't have enough attack points to take out either of our monsters or deal damage." Kugo said.

"That is true, but when Brazo Thrust Arm attacks, he can't be destroyed." Chad said. "Brazo Thrust Arm, attack Scaffold Knight with **Thrust Strong Strike**." His monster shot out a blast of energy and it was heading for Kugo's knight.

"Sorry about this Chad, but I need you to come back to your senses." Ichigo said. "I'm activating Spiritual Phenomenon. I'll give up just 100 life points so Kugo's monster is spared and deals damage." They're life points dropped to 6100 and Scaffold Knight had 1900atk points. The knight deflected the blast and Chad's life points went down to 7900.

"Thanks, Ichigo." Kugo said.

"Fine. I'll end my turn." Chad said.

"My move, but I bet you can guess what this card is." Ichigo said. "I'll summon my Reaper to the field in attack mode." His reaper came out with 1700atk points. "Neither of them will be staying for long. I unite my swordsman and my reaper to unite summon Zangetsu!" His two monsters formed black energy and combined together with Zangetsu appearing on the field.

"Ichigo, you would even use Zangetsu against Tsukishima. Aren't you the least bit grateful for all that he's done?" Tatsuki said.

"Ichigo, what has gotten into you?" Orihime said. Ichigo couldn't take it with his friends siding with Tsukishima. He had to end this quickly.

"I'm activating my Veil of Ghosts." Ichigo said and a white veil came down on Zangetsu. "Thanks to this veil, Zangetsu is immune to your monster effects. That means he's clear for an attack. Zangetsu, strike down Symmtry with **Piercing Heaven**." Zangetsu slashed down and blasted Tsukishima's monster with their life points dropping to 6600.

"It would seem to me that you are highly unstable in a mental matter." Tsukishima said.

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo said.

"You're not dueling like yourself." Tsukishima said. "If you were out to get me in a calmer manner, you would have used Zangetsu's ability and make Zangetsu stronger while my monster gets weaker. Same with Spiritual Phenomenon. You could have given up 1000 life points instead of 100." Ichigo saw he was right. With how dangerous Tsukishima is, they need to end this duel before it drags out for too long. He had a chance to deal massive damage, but he blew it.

"I'll just get you next time." Ichigo said.

"You won't have a next time." Tsukishima said as he drew his card. "I play a spell known as Psyche Disrupt. It allows me take one spell in my hand to the grave and another from my deck to my hand." He discarded his Monster Reincarnation and another spell was added to his hand.

"That spell can only be one card." Kugo said.

"You might be right, but it will have to wait. I'm not allowed to use this spell until the end of my turn." Tsukishima said. "I can wait. A good duelist waits and times to use their cards perfectly. Next, I activate the effects of Lost Star Confusion. This spell allows me to summon a level five or six monster my dropping its level down to one. I summon Memory Sightseer Indemo." Another one of the strange looking monsters that stood on all fours with a large tail and a demon's face, but it was in defense mode with 2400def points.

"Why's that monster in defense mode?" Ichigo said.

"Its special ability makes sure that it's summoned in defense mode." Kugo said. "That's not all. When that monster is destroyed, it comes back in that mode and deal 800 points of damage. We better be careful."

"It's your move, Kugo. Not that it will matter because this duel will be over soon enough." Tsukishima said.

….

Uryu

Uryu was with Ikkaku, Yumichika, and Rangiku. Uryu already stopped by Ichigo's house and saw no one was home. The four of them hurried to find Ichigo.

"Uryu!" Uryu looked ahead and saw Rukia and Renji arrived.

"We got here as soon as we could. What's the big emergency?" Rukia said.

"It's Ichigo. He and his sisters aren't home. I'm worried he might have gone after Tsukishima." Uryu said.

"We tried calling Ichigo's friends, but they aren't answering." Yumichika said.

"Something is seriously wrong." Rangiku said.

"You were right to call. Let's hurry up and find him." Renji said as all of them got moving to find Ichigo before it's too late.

….

The Duel

"It's my turn now." Kugo said. "I summon Scaffold Bishop in attack mode." A bishop with skeleton pieces of armor rose on the field and had 400atk points. "I'm going to activate my Scaffold Bishop's ability. I'm able to increase the level of one of my monsters by two. So I'll change my Scaffold Knight from a level four to a level six. Then, I unite my dark attribute, level three Scaffold Bishop with my level six Scaffold Knight." The two of them became dark energy and combined. "I unite summon Cross of Scaffold." A man in dark colored clothing with armor that resembled bones and held a large claymore sword with a skull on it. It also had 3200atk points.

"Cross of Scaffold. That's your best monster." Tsukishima said.

"It's about to get much worse for you." Kugo said. "Cross of Scaffold, attack his Indemo with **Cross Slice Demolition**." Bright green energy flowed through his monster's sword. It slashed down and left a great impact that destroyed Indemo.

"Why would he attack if he knew Indemo's ability?" Tatsuki said. Indemo rose back on the field and it unleashed a powerful roar that caused Ichigo and Kugo's life points to drop to 5300.

"That's just fine because I use my Cross of Scaffold's ability. I can use one unite unit after he attacks and he can remove a monster from play." One unit entered his sword and unleashed a bright green glow and caused Indemo to vanish.

"Nice job, but why didn't you attack Chad's monster?" Tsukishima said.

"So I can activate this. It's a spell known as Defense Destroyer." Kugo said. "I can only use this spell when a monster in defense mode leaves the field. This spell can deal damage equal to the monster's defense points." Tsukishima suffered a severe lightning blast Tsukishima and the life points dropped to 4200.

"Things are going well." Ichigo said.

"Let's hope things keep going well. I'll end my turn." Kugo said. "I'll end my turn here."

"It's my move. I summon Brazo Direct in attack mode." Chad said and his monster came out with 1400atk points. Ichigo knew what was coming next.

"Chad, don't do this." Ichigo said.

"I unite my level four, earth attribute Brazo Direct and Brazo Thrust Arm." Chad said. The two became orange energy and combined together. "I unite summon Brazo Gigante Diablo." His monster came out and had 2600atk points. "Brazo Gigante Diablo, attack Zangetsu."

"Chad, stop!" Ichigo shouted.

"You brought this upon yourself. **Strength Crush Fist**! Don't forget my own spell gives him another 500atk points" Chad said. Electricity formed around his monster's left and went to attack and its attack points went up to 3100.

"Ichigo, you've got to do something." Kugo said.

"I will. I activate my Shrink face-down." Ichigo said. "Now your monster's attack points are cut in half." Diablo's points dropped down to 1550.

"I activate Diablo's ability. By using one unite unit, he can stop an attack. Even if that attack is his own." Chad said. One unit entered the shield on its right arm and his own attack was stopped. "I'll end my turn." After that, Diablo's points returned to normal.

"I've got to hurry and end this." Ichigo said. "The time has come. Go, unitetion evolution!" A vortex opened up and Zangetsu dived inside. "Appear, Zangetsu Moon!" Zangetsu Moon, a swordsman in black clothing that looks like Ichigo with black hair and had a black sword with a chain on it. He also had 2500atk points.

"That's amazing!" Kugo said.

"I use Zangetsu Moon's ability." Ichigo said. "By using one unite unit, I can cancel out the effects of a card type of my choice. I choose spell cards." Zangetsu Moon slashed at one of the unite units and sent out a dark wave that nullified Chad's spell. "I'm also going to equip Black Spirit Energy to Zangetsu and his attack points go up by 600." Zangetsu's sword was covered in dark energy and his attack points went up to 3100. "Zangetsu Moon, attack Diablo with **Moon Fang Piercing Heaven**." Zangetsu unleashed a fang-shaped attack and destroyed Diablo and lowered Chad's life points to 3700. "I'll end my turn there."

"You should have tried to finish it there." Tsukishima said.

"Here it comes." Kugo said.

"No worries. I'll just use Zangetsu Moon's ability again." Ichigo said.

"I'm afraid not. This card cannot be stopped by anything." Tsukishima said. "I play Book of the End." He played the spell and it unleashed a bright green flash. That green flash was noticed by Uryu and the others with them close to the park.

"No. I won't fall for your power." Ichigo said.

"Well….you're not the one I'm using it on." Tsukishima said. Ichigo looked over and saw Kugo was starting to fall under his power.

"Kugo. No!" Ichigo said.

"My spell will allow me to take control of Cross of Scaffold." Tsukishima said and Kugo's monster went over to their side. "Next I use Cross of Scaffold's ability to destroy Zangetsu Moon." The last unite unit went into his sword and it slashed towards Zangetsu.

"I'll just use Zangetsu Moon's ability to stop it." Ichigo said.

"That won't work." Tsukishima said. "Not as long as my Book of the End is activated." Zangetsu Moon was caught into the attack and was destroyed. "There's more. When Cross of Scaffold is out of unite units, he can deal 3000 points of damage and he can still attack. That means it's over for you."

"No." Ichigo said. Cross of Scaffold held out its sword and slashed down twice. That was just about when Uryu and the others showed up.

"Ichigo!" Uryu called out, but it was too late as the power hit and Ichigo lost all his life points with all his cards sent flying. "Ichigo, are you alright?"

"Okay, Tsukishima. That's enough. You can release everyone." Kugo said.

"Right." Tsukishima said. He snapped his fingers and everyone had flash images of their real memories being restored.

"What happened?" Keigo said.

"What did I do? Ichigo!" Chad called out as everyone rushed to his side. Ichigo looked over and saw Kugo standing with all members of Xcution and Tsukishima and Shishigawara were there.

"Kugo, what's going on?" Ichigo said.

"I get it now. You've been behind everything." Uryu said.

"That's right." Kugo said. "We used Tsukishima's great abilities to make it seem like we are your friends. When he attacked the base earlier, it was more of getting the others back on track."

"Ichigo, I'm so sorry for everything." Orihime said.

"Why did you do this?" Rukia said.

"For this." Kugo said as he was holding up Zangetsu. Ichigo was worried and saw Kugo tear it up. It was a shock to everyone.

"Zangetsu!" Ichigo shouted. He saw Zangetsu's other forms and they all faded away. Zangetsu was Ichigo's best monster and now he's gone.

"That takes care of that. Let's go." Kugo said as all of them started leaving. Ichigo was left with a hole inside him and doesn't seem like it can be filled up.

To Be Continued…


	13. Light of a New Moon

Out at the museum in the dead of night, a closed off exhibit was a glass case with a deck inside. Reflecting off the glass was a golden light that belonged to a transparent figure.

"I can feel it. He'll be coming soon."

…..

The Kurosakis

"Ichigo, time for lunch!" Yuzu called up to his room, but there wasn't a single respond. "He still won't come out." She said to her family and Ichigo's friends.

"I don't get it. What exactly happened?" Isshin asked.

"He lost a duel and a creep tore up his best card." Uryu said. Ever since it was revealed Ichigo was deceived by Kugo and Zangetsu was torn up, Ichigo has been lying in bed and hasn't moved. He keeps replaying the memory of Zangetsu getting torn up in his head.

"I feel so awful. I can't believe we acted out against him." Orihime said as she felt worse than any of them.

"None of you are to blame. Tsukishima used each of you." Rukia said.

"I still can't believe that guy messed with my head. That's scary." Tatsuki said.

"I find it a complete disgrace." Ikkaku said.

"Let's stay focus on cheering up Ichigo." Rukia said. "There must be something we can do. Anyone got any ideas?"

"Why not just get him in the dueling mood again?" Rangiku said.

"Easier said than done." Karin said. "Zangetsu was his best card and now it's gone."

"I don't get it. I know that card was powerful, but it was just a card." Yuzu said.

"You wouldn't understand because you're not a duelist." Ikkaku said. "Ichigo seems to have had a strong bond with Zangetsu. Something like Zangetsu was a part of Ichigo. Having it torn right in front of him was like trying to break his soul."

"So is there anything we can do to help him?" Yumichika asked.

"I'm not entirely sure." Uryu said. No one knew what they could do and all of them were worried Ichigo could be like this forever. Meanwhile, Ichigo just stayed in his bed and kept blaming himself for even letting all of this happen.

"Ichigo, it's me." Orihime said on the other side of his door. "I'm coming in." She let herself in and saw herself how horrible it is, but there was something else she needed to do. "Ichigo, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I helped Tsukishima and did nothing to help you."

"Just forget it." Ichigo said.

"No. I won't." Orihime said as she went right over to his bed and grabbed his hand. "Ichigo, I love you. I shouldn't have done anything for him. Yes, I was under his hypnosis, but that's still no excuse."

"I love you too, but I'm not upset about that anymore." Ichigo said. "I was fighting to get you back to normal. I'm more upset about what happened to Zangetsu. Zangetsu was the first card I ever had and got me walking down this path. He was the foundation and heart of my deck. He's gone and I can't get him back."

"There must be something we can do." Orihime said. "How did you even get Zangetsu to begin with?"

"It happened when I was a child. My mother and I saw a duel going on and the famous duelist, Davis Motomiya, was there." Ichigo said. "He's the person that gave me that card." Rukia was just outside Ichigo's room and hearing how he got Zangetsu gave her an idea. Later at night, Ichigo still hasn't moved from his bed. They all tried, but Ichigo wouldn't move no matter what any of his friends said. It seemed like he might never get over what he saw. Ichigo was about to shut his eyes when he heard something crash against his window and splattered all over it. "What? What is that stuff?" He was starting to see a message was being shown in a strange substance. "What's this?"

"Ichigo, come to the museum at once and don't keep us waiting."

"What could this be about?" Ichigo said.

…

The Museum

Ichigo headed right for the museum. When he got there, he saw all his friends were there and were waiting for him.

"There you are." Rukia said.

"You guys sent me that message? You were in my house earlier." Ichigo said.

"You weren't really in a listening mood." Keigo said.

"So we thought if we sent you a strange delivery message, you would come." Tatsuki said.

"A little help from that guy named Kisuke was able to make it possible." Rangiku said.

"So what is this about? Why did you guys asked me to come here?" Ichigo said.

"We heard that the deck of Davis Motomiya is right inside." Ikkaku said. "We thought that if you saw the deck, you might cheer up."

"Coming here at a time like this, we thought that you be more likely to come." Yumichika said. "If we would have taken a more direct approach, things would be difficult."

"Guys, I doubt this is going to work." Ichigo said.

"Just give it a try, Ichigo." Chad said.

"We also want to make up to what happened with us and that Tsukishima guy." Mizuiro said. "We all feel really bad."

"At least give it a try." Uryu said. Ichigo saw none of them were going to let him out of this. He sighed and just let it happened.

"So how do we get inside?" Ichigo said as he tugged at the door, but found it was unlocked. "You guys were all set for me."

"We didn't unlock it." Orihime said.

"That means there might be someone already inside." Uryu said. "Everyone, be careful." All of them went inside and kept their guard up as they tried sneaking inside.

"So which way is the deck?" Renji said.

"Let me see." Uryu said as he pulled out a guide. Ichigo seemed like he really didn't care, but he saw someone walk across the wall, but it looked transparent.

"What was that? No way that was a ghost." Ichigo said as he walked towards that direction.

"Ichigo, where are you going?" Renji said.

"I think I saw something." Ichigo said and all of them followed. Ichigo followed the strange figure to a different part of the museum with closed doors. "Why bring me here? What's on the other side?"

"Ichigo, on the other side of this door is the exhibit with Davis Motomiya's deck." Mizuiro said.

"So it's right inside." Rangiku said.

"Let's see." Ichigo said as he opened up the door. They were all on a balcony only a few feet from the ground and at the bottom was a glass case. Inside the case was the deck.

"No way! Is that it?" Rukia said.

"It is." Renji said.

"The deck of Davis Motomiya!" Ichigo said. The cards of his hero was right in front of him. A dream of his was coming true.

"Welcome!" All of them heard a voice, but they saw no one was around. Ichigo looked to the deck and saw the same transparent figure in a gold light and he could see its details more. It was a blue figure with gold armor. He caught the attention of everyone.

"Who are you?" Ichigo said.

"I am the golden radiance. The Knight of Miracles. I am Magnamon."

"Magnamon?!" Everyone said.

"Yes and there's someone here who would like to meet you." Magnamon said as he faded away. Everyone saw someone come out of hiding and stood next to the deck. None of them could believe who it was right in front of them.

"Glad to see you could make it."

"Davis Motomiya!" Davis Motomiya, digidestined of miracles and a world famous duelist.

"It's been a long time, Ichigo." Davis said.

"I can't believe you remember me." Ichigo said.

"I had no idea he was here." Rukia said.

"I was just checking on my deck, but I'm glad you're here, Ichigo." Davis said as he took the glass case off and grabbed his deck. "I told you we would duel when you got older and that time has come."

"But…I don't have Zangetsu anymore." Ichigo said. "Zangetsu was the heart of my deck and now he's gone. I never been in a duel without him."

"I see." Davis said. "He was your best card, but he's gone. Ichigo, you should know that it's not the card. It's the duelist. Perhaps Zangetsu can be brought back."

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo said.

"Duel me and find out." Davis said. This was the chance Ichigo has been waiting for after a long time, but he wasn't quite sure if he was up to it. However, Ichigo wanted to know what he meant and he accepted the challenge. Ichigo and Davis stood on opposite ends of the balcony and got ready with his friends standing off to the side.

"Let's duel!" Both of them said as they both have 4000LP.

"I'll start this off." Ichigo said. "I'll summon my Black Shihaku in attack mode." His monster rose out on the field and had 1900atk points. "I place one card facedown to end my turn."

"My move!" Davis said. "I summon Flamedramon in attack mode." Flamedramon rose up through a flame and had 1500atk points. "Next, I'm activating my Crest of Reliability. This allows me to summon another monster from my hand. I summon ExVeemon." ExVeemon came on the field and had 1600atk points. "I'm afraid there's more. When Flamedramon attacks, he gains 700 more attack points. Flamedramon, attack with **Fire Rocket**!" Flamedramon's attack points went up to 2200 and he shot fireballs.

"I play my trap, Training Mannequin. This allows me to summon another monster and it becomes the new target of your attack." Ichigo said. "I choose Kon the Lion." Kon appeared and jumped in the way of the flames. "He won't be staying because by sacrificing him, I can end the battle." Kon took the attack and was destroyed, but Ichigo was safe.

"Not bad. I'll just place this card facedown to end my turn." Davis said.

"My move." Ichigo said. "I summon my Swordsman of the Black Blade in attack mode." His swordsman rose to the field and had 1900atk points as well. "Sweet. With these two I can unite summon…." Ichigo realized what he was doing and got upset. He wanted to unite summon Zangetsu, but can't.

"Poor Ichigo." Orihime said.

"He's got to snap out of it or he's going to lose." Tatsuki said.

"I'll just have both my monsters attack." Ichigo said and both of his monsters went in for an attack.

"Not so fast. I play my trap, Heart's Desire." Davis said. "By paying 800 of my life points, I can stop your battle phase." Davis was in a red aura and flinched in pain as his life points dropped to 3200 and both of the attacks were blocked.

"Fine. I end my turn." Ichigo said.

"Here I go." Davis said as he drew his card. "I summon Raidramon in defense mode." Raidramon came on the field with 1400def points. "Next, I'm activating my Crest of Love spell. This spell gives me life points equal to the attack points of one monster on my field if I give them up. Raidramon has 1100atk points. That means I'm getting 1100 life points." All of his monster's attack points dropped to nothing as his life points rose to 4300. "I'm also going to use ExVeemon's ability. If I giveaway 1000 of my life points, I can take away 1000 of your monster's attack points." Davis' life points dropped down to 3300 and Ichigo's Black Shihaku had his power drained with it only having 900atk points.

"This isn't going to end well for Ichigo." Uryu said.

"Flamedramon, attack with **Fire Rocket** at his swordsman. ExVeemon, you attack Black Shihaku with **V-Laser** and don't forget Flamedramon's ability." Davis said as Flamedramon gained power. Both of his monsters attack Ichigo's and both of Ichigo's monsters were destroyed with Ichigo's life points dropping to 3000. "That's the end of my turn and since it is, my monsters' attack points return to normal."

"It's no good." Ichigo said as he dropped to his knees. "I can't win. I don't see how without Zangetsu."

"He's worse than I thought." Rangiku said.

"One little attack and he's ready to throw in the towel. That isn't like him at all." Keigo said.

"Ichigo!" Davis called out and got his attention. "I understand that Zangetsu is important to you, but is it because of that card that made you strong, made you a powerful duelist."

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo said.

"Zangetsu might have been important, but that wasn't the source of your strength." Davis said and pointed to his heart. "Your real strength lies here and with your friends."

"My friends?" Ichigo questioned.

"They are what you fight for and they fight for you." Davis said. "The true strength of a duelist comes from the heart with friends by your side. You got your real friends and the friends in your deck."

"My deck?" Ichigo said and looked at it. Ichigo thought back to all the battles he's been in up until now and Davis was right. In every battle, his friends always had his back and he always had the strength of his deck, not just one card. "Your right. Zangetsu is a powerful card, but I shouldn't rely on just one card. It was never Zangetsu that gave me strength. It was all of my friends for they are the reason I fight and I'll continue to fight! Zangetsu was my friend too and all my friends are in my heart!" He stood up proud and strong and his friends could see the Ichigo they all knew was back. With this newfound power, a light shined in his extra deck. It opened up and showed a new card Ichigo hasn't seen before. "What's this?"

"The love and strong bond you have for you cards is being shown. Let's find out what it is." Davis said.

"Yeah." Ichigo said as he drew his next card. "I summon Soul Siege in attack mode." His knight rose with 1400atk points. "I'm also going to play Twice the Element. This allows me to summon a monster of the same attribute. Say hello to Underworld Guardian." His guardian came out with 1300atk points. "I unite Soul Siege and Underworld Guardian." The two became dark energy and joined together. His new monster looked like Zangetsu, but was younger and the blade looked different. He also had 2500atk points. "Zangetsu?"

"No. That's Tensa Zangetsu." Davis said. Ichigo looked over the card.

"Other than the name, everything else is the same." Ichigo said. "Let's see what you've got. Tensa Zangetsu, take out ExVeemon." Tensa Zangetsu unleashed a powerful slash from his blade and destroyed ExVeemon with Davis' life points dropping to 2400. "Awesome! I'll end my turn."

"Ichigo is back!" Renji said.

"So is Zangetsu." Uryu said.

"Impressive." Davis said as he drew his next card. "Time to end this. I sacrifice Raidramon and Exveemon and bring out Magnamon!" Both monsters were sacrificed and Magnamon appeared on a field in a shining gold light and 2500atk points.

"A pleasure to meet you." Magnamon said.

"There's more. When a light attribute monster is used to summon him, he gains 500atk points." Davis said as Magnamon's points rose to 3000. Next thing anyone knew was that there was a bright light surrounding the area. The only thing Ichigo could see was himself and Ichigo. "Ichigo, don't ever forget where your real strength lies. Forge ahead with your friends and you will win every time." Ichigo became blinded by the light after hearing that. When the light faded away, Davis was gone and the duel was stopped.

"What happened?" Orihime asked.

"I think Ichigo lost. Magnamon's ability causes damage equal to the attack points of the destroyed monster." Uryu said.

"Doesn't matter." Ichigo said as he stared at his revived Zangetsu now known as Tensa Zangetsu. "I'm back and better than ever. The first thing I'm going to do is get payback at Kugo and his friends. They better watch out."


	14. Kugo's Revenge

Ichigo's dueling spirit has been revived thanks to Davis Motomiya. He was even given a brand new card: Tensa Zangetsu. With him returning to normal, Ichigo as well as Orihime, Uryu, Chad, Rukia, and Renji went to see Kisuke and Yoruichi.

"Glad to see you're back to normal, Ichigo." Kisuke said.

"Thanks. Now that I feel like myself again, I would love to give Kugo and that Xcution group some payback." Ichigo claimed.

"Kisuke, were you able to find out anything about Kugo?" Rukia asked.

"Actually we have." Yoruichi said.

"We've done some research and found out that Kugo use to work for the Soul Society." Kisuke said and that was a surprise fact to everyone. "It's time you all learned the true purpose of the Soul Society. Do you all remember how the Soul Society was set out to destroy the duel monster spirit world?"

"How could we forget?" Renji said.

"Well, there was a reason for that." Yoruichi said. "For years, duel monster spirits have actually been seeping into our world. As we told you when we all met, the Soul Society thought the reason for the chaos in the world was for the duel monster spirit world. There was actually a little more to it than what we told you."

"Rogue duel spirits have actually been slipping in and out of our world for years." Kisuke said. "They brought nothing, but mischief and chaos. The Soul Society was founded to terminate those spirits and that eventually lead to your battle with the Soul Society."

"What does any of this have to do with Kugo?" Uryu said.

"Kugo use to work for them and they had him hunt down those spirits." Kisuke said. "According to the records, Kugo ended up resenting what he was doing. He claims he came across an innocent spirit, but the Soul Society obviously didn't care. That was when Kugo realized that he was nothing more than a weapon to them and he hated them for that."

"So that's what this has all been about. Kugo wants revenge." Renji said.

"What about Ichigo? Why do you think they went after him and tore up Zangetsu?" Orihime asked.

"I'm not entirely sure." Kisuke said. "This is only a theory, but perhaps he heard that you defeated Byakuya and other members of the Soul Society. He must have assumed you were working with them and was their strongest. Perhaps if he thought that you were taken out, it would make things a whole lot easier for them."

"Easier for what? What exactly are they planning?" Rukia wondered.

"If it's to gain revenge on the Soul Society and the people that work there, he might strike against them." Yoruichi said.

"They had me and my friends suffer and put us through all this and we had nothing to do with their problems?" Ichigo said as he stood up. "That does it."

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Yoruichi asked.

"I'm going to go find those guys." Ichigo said.

"Don't act rash. If you go in like last time, they'll just overpower you again." Uryu said.

"Actually, having Ichigo take them on might not be such a bad idea." Kisuke said. "They think Ichigo is out of the picture. They'll never expect him. Rukia, you should go on to the Soul Society and warn your brother about this incase Kugo and the rest of Xcution make it there. Not that I don't think they can handle those guys, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

"Right." Rukia said.

"Then, the rest of us are heading out for Kugo and the others. We have to stop them before they head for the Soul Society." Ichigo said.

…

Kugo

Now that Kugo and the rest of Xcution have been restored to their true selves. They were in one of their bases and was going over a plan to invade the Soul Society.

"Here's the plan." Kugo said as he showed the schematics for the Soul Society's building. "Yukio, you hack in the building's systems and make it that much easier for the rest of us to get in. Jackie, you stand guard outside so no one gets in or out. The rest of us will head inside and tear the place apart."

"Are you sure a small group like us can handle an operation like this?" Jackie said.

"Yeah. They won't know what hit them." Kugo said.

"What about Shishigawara? Shouldn't he be here?" Tsukishima said.

"To be honest, that kid is nothing, but a nuisance." Kugo said. "He'll only slow us down. Get yourselves ready." All of them agreed and went to get their supplies ready, but Riruka didn't. "Riruka, what's wrong?"

"Is it really worth it?" Riruka said.

"Of course it is." Kugo said. "Don't tell me you're going soft just because you met Ichigo and those other guys."

"Um…no." Riruka said, but without even looking him in the eyes.

"Good. There better not." Kugo said. "Go and get ready. We strike tonight."

…..

Shishigawara

Kugo had Shishigawara just run some errands so he stay out of the way. Shishigawara only did it for Tsukishima and he really didn't know any better. He just had a couple grocery bags and was hurrying back to the base.

"Oh man. I better step on it and get back." Shishigawara said. Shishigawara kept running, but he stopped as he saw something. He saw Ichigo and the others run across him. "Ichigo Kurosaki! This can't be good. I better cut them off." Shishigawara went in a different direction. Ichigo and his friends were trying to find Kugo and the rest of Xcution.

"Ichigo, do you even know where to look?" Uryu said. "Kugo and his friends could be just about anywhere."

"I'll search the entire city if I have to." Ichigo said.

"Ichigo, maybe this wasn't a good idea." Renji said.

"Renji's right. We have so much ground to cover and not that much time." Chad said. "Xcution could attack any moment."

"I understand you want payback at Kugo, but running around blindly isn't the answer." Uryu said. Ichigo took a moment to think and he was right.

"Yeah. Sorry I dragged you guys all the way out here." Ichigo said. "I guess I got way too ahead of myself. Let's head to the Soul Society and wait for them to come to us."

"Not." They heard someone and something hit the ground. All of them looked behind Ichigo and they were met with Shishigawara.

"I remember him. That's Sushigawara." Orihime said and that almost threw Shishigawara off his balance.

"It's Shishigawara!"

"Oh! Sorry." Orihime said and when he saw her innocent face, his own face turned red.

"I remember him too. He was working with Tsukishima." Chad said.

"Where is Tsukishima right now?" Ichigo said.

"I'm not telling you anything. Besides, there's nothing you can do to stop him or Kugo." Shishigawara said as he took out his duel disk and placed it on his arm. "You guys better get ready because I'm ready to throw down."

"No thanks. We don't have time for you right now." Ichigo said as he and the others were about to leave.

"That's fine. There's more than one way!" Shishigawara said as he just charged right at Ichigo. He was about to strike him, but someone else came and smacked Shishigawara back. Ichigo was surprised to see it was Ikkaku and Yumichika with Ikkaku holding a kendo stick.

"Ikkaku? Yumichika? What are you two doing here?" Ichigo said.

"As if we were going to be left out of the action." Yumichika said.

"Yeah. I'm getting tired of being cut out of everything." Ikkaku said.

"How did you even find us?" Uryu said.

"We all knew you would be at that Urahara Shop you told us about." Yumichika said. "When we saw all of you leave, we secretly followed you all the way here."

"So this guy is looking for a fight." Ikkaku said. "If he wants one, he'll get one. The rest of you should get going and find that Kugo guy."

"You sure? We don't know anything about this guy." Ichigo said.

"Ichigo, I'm sure Ikkaku can handle it. We need to get going." Renji said.

"Renji's right. Let's go." Orihime said. Ichigo agreed and the five of them got going.

"Get back here!" Shishigawara said as he was about to go after them, but Ikkaku stepped in his way.

"Sorry, but the only way to get to them is through me." Ikkaku said and he wasn't going anywhere.

….

Rukia

Ruki ran to the Soul Society building to warn them about Kugo. She was about to run inside when she saw Jushiro walk out of the building.

"Jushiro!" Rukia called out and got his attention.

"Rukia? Is there something wrong?" Jushiro said.

"We have a problem." Rukia said as she was catching her breath. "Do you know a man by the name Kugo Ginjo?"

"Kugo Ginjo? Actually yes." Jushiro said.

"You need to know something. He's planning on coming here for the sake of revenge." Rukia said. Jushiro hearing that got his attention. "Jushiro, do you know something?"

"I'm afraid that I do." Jushiro said, but what could he know about Kugo?

…

Ikkaku

Ikkaku was ready to face against Shishigawara. He placed on his duel disk and was all set to take him down.

"Before we begin, you don't mind telling me your name, do you?" Ikkaku asked.

"I suppose not. The name's Shishigawara, Moe Shishigawara. I'm Mr. Tsukishima's right hand man. I'll take you down and stop that Ichigo guy so that he doesn't interfere with Mr. Tsukishima."

"Tsukishima? You mean that guy that messed with the heads of Ichigo's sisters and a few of his friends?" Ikkaku said.

"I thought it was this Kugo guy calling all the shots." Yumichika said.

"Perhaps, but I only take orders by Mr. Tsukishima." Shishigawara said. "No more talking. Let's get right down to it."

"You got it. By the way, my name is Ikkaku Madarame. Let's do it." The two of them activated their duel disks and they were both all set to start this and we'll see which side of the upcoming battles will gain the upper hand.

"Here we go!"


	15. Luck or No Luck

In a discussion with Kisuke Urahara, the true purpose for the Soul Society being formed was revealed. It was also revealed that Kugo use to work for them, but he felt that they treated him more as a weapon and wants revenge for it. Before Ichigo and the others could confront him, Shishigawara confronted Ichigo. However, Ikkaku stepped in and took Ichigo's place. This battle could decide the tide of the battle.

"I hope you're ready. I'm about to duel you into next week." Shishigawara said.

"You're going to need more than just words to beat me." Ikkaku said.

"If you say so." Shishigawara said.

"Let's duel!" Both of them said as they got ready and they both had 4000LP.

"I'll start this duel." Shishigawara said as he drew his card. "I'll summon my Jackpot Fighter in attack mode." A mixed martial arts fighter came on the field with three 7's on both his hands. He also had 1700atk points. "I place two cards facedown and end my turn."

"My turn." Ikkaku said. "I summon Great Chain Mace in attack mode." A warrior holding a morning star came on the field with 1600atk points. "Next, I activate the spell known as Disciplining Enforcement. Since you have a monster with more attack points, my spell gives mine 500atk points and your monster loses that same amount." Great Chain Mace's attack points rose to 2100 and Jackpot Fighter's dropped to 1200.

"That doesn't scare me." Shishigawara said.

"Wanna bet? Attack with **Spike Demon Crash**!" Ikkaku said. The morning star glowed and the spikes grew longer. Jackpot Fighter got slammed by it and Shishigawara's points dropped to 3100.

"I play my trap. It's known as Jackpot Slam!" Shishigawara said. "Since you just destroyed my monster, this trap shuffles my deck. Then, I draw a card and if it's the same monster, I can summon it."

"That's a big gamble he's taking." Yumichika said as Shishigawara's deck shuffled up.

"You would be surprised. I've been known to always hit the jackpot." Shishigawara said and drew the card. "See!" He showed it was another Jackpot Fighter and it came out on the field.

"He really did pull it off!" Yumichika said.

"So he's the type that relies on luck." Ikkaku said. "I place one card facedown and end my turn. Since it's the end of my turn, my monster's attack points return to normal." His monster's attack points dropped back to normal.

"My turn." Shishigawara said as he drew his card. "I summon Slot Walker." A walking slot machine came on the field with 200atk points. "Here's the deal. As long as I have one other monster on the field, you can't attack Slot Walker. Jackpot Fighter, strike down his Great Chain Mace." His fighter went on the attack.

"Not so fast. I'm activating my trap card, Negate Attack!" Ikkaku said. "This will automatically end the battle phase."

"I don't think so." Shishigawara said. "Slot Walker has one more ability. If the card I draw is the same type as the card you activate, I can negate it." The lever on the machine moved and the slot activated.

"So he just needs a trap and he can stop that card." Yumichika simplified. Shishigawara drew his card and Slot Walker showed it was a trap called Gamble.

"And I hit the jackpot again." Shishigawara said as Ikkaku's trap went back down. Jackpot Fighter continued with the attack and destroyed and Ikkaku's life points dropped to 3900. "There's more. When Jackpot Fighter deals damage, I flip a coin. Heads is that another 1000 points of damage is dealt. Tails is that I need to discard a card. Here goes." He tossed the coin and caught it to show it landed on heads. "That's another 1000 points of damage." The fighter gave Ikkaku a strong right hook and his points dropped to 2900. "I'll also have Slot Walker attack." The slot machine shot out gold coins and Ikkau got hit and his life points continued to drop all the way to 2700. "I think that's enough for this turn."

"So you're feeling lucky. I'm feeling lucky myself." Ikkaku said as he drew his next card. "I summon my Demon Wind Blade in attack mode." A warrior with shaggy silver hair and an oni mask rose on the field and held two demon wind shuriken and also had 1800atk points.

"You fell for it." Shishigawara said.

"Now what?" Ikkaku said.

"I play my trap. It's known as Gamble Obsessed." Shishigawara said. "I can activate this by sending one card in my hand to the grave. I'll ditch my Gamble trap. With that done, your monster is trapped by this card because as long as it stays on the field, the monster connected to it can attack, but I'll be able to look at the top card of my deck. If it's a monster, your monster will be destroyed."

"He's betting everything on luck." Yumichika said.

"His luck is bound to run out eventually. Especially since I'm the luckiest guy around." Ikkaku said. "Actually, the trap might be useful. Demon Wind Blade, attack his Jackpot Fighter with **Demonic Wind Slice**!" His warrior jumped up and tossed both shuriken.

"Did you forget my trap after I just explained it to you?" Shishigawara said. "Let's see what I got on top of my deck." He flipped the card over and saw it was another monster. "Jackpot! I hit it again! Now, your warrior is destroyed." Demon Wind Blade was covered in a dark aura and was destroyed.

"That's just what I wanted." Ikkaku said with a smirk.

"Say what?" Shishigawara said. It was then that he spotted one of the shuriken and it slashed down on Slot Walker. "What happened?"

"That's the ability of my Demon Wind Blade." Ikkaku said. "When he's destroyed, he can take one other card with him. He can also deal 800 points of damage." Shishigawara felt the wind slash against him and his life points dropped down to 2400.

"Excellent. You've finally managed to deal some damage." Yumichika said.

"No way! You turned my luck to your advantage." Shishigawara said.

"That's right. Better luck next time so something like that doesn't happen again." Ikkaku said. "It's your turn."

"Here goes!" Shishigawara said as he drew his next card. "I summon the monster I just drew. My third Jackpot Fighter." His third one came on the field. "You left yourself open. My Jackpot Fighters will finish you off." Both of his monsters went to attack.

"Did you forget that my Negate Attack trap is still on the field? You didn't destroy it last time." Ikkaku said as he was protected by a force field.

"Darn it. Oh well. I'll just end my turn." Shishigawara said.

"My turn." Ikkaku said.

"You've had your fun. Don't you think it's time you end this?" Yumichika said.

"Yeah. I guess you're right." Ikkaku said.

"What are you talking about?" Shishigawara asked.

"I'll show you." Ikkaku said. "I send one card to the graveyard so that I can special summon Devilish Daredevil." Another warrior with long black hair with devil face paint rose on the field with 1200atk points. "Next, I activate the spell, Lead the Squad. This brings back a level three or lower monster."

"But your monsters are level four." Shishigawara said.

"Not all. I still have the card I discarded. I summon Demon Spearman." Ikkaku said. A horned demon with a spear came on the field with 1300atk points. "There's more. I unite my fire attribute, level three Demon Spearman and Devilish Daredevil." The two of them became red energy and combined. "I unite summon Hozukimaru!" Hozukimaru, a monster with long orange hair, a beard, and a loin cloth rose, on the field with 2200atk points. "Time to see if Lady Luck is on my side."

"What are you talking about?" Shishigawara said.

"I activate Dragon Fortune." Ikkaku said. "Here's how it works. Hozukimaru gains 400atk points." Hozukimaru's power went up to 2600. "I also draw a card and you have to guess if it's a spell, trap, or monster. If you guess wrong, all your monsters are destroyed."

"Are you serious?" Shishigawara said.

"Here goes." Ikkaku said and held out the card. "What's your pick?" Shishigawara had to think hard about this or else he was finished.

"Interesting. Using his greatest strength against him. Let's see if it pays off." Yumichika said.

'This is a big choice. If I lose, I'll let Mr. Tsukishima down. I have to hope I'm right.' Shishigawara thought. "I say it's a monster." Shishigawara was hoping he's right.

"Looks like Lady Lick payed off….for me." Ikkaku said as he showed it was a spell.

"No!" Shishigawara said and all of his monsters were destroyed.

"Which means that Hozukimaru can strike you directly." Ikkaku said as Hozukimaru glowed a bright red color. "Attack with **Demon Light Slicer**!" Hozukimaru struck down on Shishigawara and he lost all of his life points and dropped to the ground with Ikkaku the winner.

"Nicely done." Yumichika said.

"Thanks. Let's go see if we can give Ichigo and the others a hand." Ikkaku said.

"Hold it. I'm not done with you." Shishigawara said as he tried to get back up.

"You lost." Ikkaku said as he tried to get him to stay down.

"No way. For Mr. Tsukishima, I will keep fighting until I can't fight anymore." Shishigawara said.

"Would he do the same for you?" Ikkaku said.

"He doesn't have to. I gladly give my life for him." Shishigawara.

"You stupid moron!" Ikkaku shouted. "That should work both ways. If he doesn't give his life for you, if he doesn't have respect for you, you're nothing more than an attention seeking brat." Shishigawara never thought about it like that. Ikkaku might have gotten lucky, but let's hope luck is on Ichigo's side.

"Doesn't matter. You might be too late nayway." Shishigawara said.

…

The Soul Society

Kugo and the rest of Xcution stood outside the building. They were getting ready to make their move. Kugo spoke into an earpiece.

"Yukio, are you all set to go?" Kugo said.

"Just about." Yukio said. Yukio sat at the top of a nearby building and was working on a computer. "One more firewall." He pressed enter and all the lights and the computers were going haywire. "It's done. The Soul Society's systems are now mine to control. This place belongs to us now."


	16. Time's Up

Xcution arrived at the Soul Society and Yukio has hacked in the building's systems. Yamamoto, the man in charge of the Soul Society, noticed something was seriously wrong as he watched lights flicker around.

"Yamamoto!" He looked to the door and saw Sui-Feng ran into the door. "Apparently, someone has hacked into our systems and has control."

"How did they hack in without getting detected?" Yamamoto said.

"I don't know. Our systems wasn't able to neutralize it. It has to be someone with advance computer skills." Sui-Feng said. "We're trying to do what we can to track them down, but they've set up false leaders on servers everywhere."

"Keep trying to track them and be on the lookout for any intruders." Yamamoto ordered. Sui-Feng understood that and went to track them down. Yamamoto wondered who it was behind all this.

….

Outside

"We're all set. I have control over the security system of the building." Yukio said through a communicator to the others.

"You sure they'll have a difficult time tracking you?" Jackie said. "What if they manage to get their systems back under control?"

"Relax. I've got everything taken care of. I've also got a few employees helping me out by keeping the Soul Society back." Yukio said. "You guys just get in there and do what you need to do."

"Got it." Kugo said as the five of them moved out and headed right for the front door. "Jackie, you stay here and guard the door. No one gets in or out."

"Right." Jackie said as she stood at the door and Yukio let the others go in.

"What now?" Giriko asked.

"Tsukishima and I will head for our target." Kugo said. "The two of you just try to keep those who work here busy." Giriko and Riruka agreed to it as all of them spread out through the building.

….

Rukia

Rukia was with Jushiro and they both noticed the building's systems was going out of control. Jushiro tried working on a computer to figure out what was going on, but he couldn't do a thing.

"No. Someone has hacked in and I can't do a thing about it." Jushiro said.

"It's got to be Kugo and the rest of Xcution." Rukia said. "They've got be getting ready to make their move. Jushiro, you know something about Kugo. What aren't you telling me?" Jushiro figured he might as well tell her before everything gets out of hand.

"What you know about Kugo is the truth." Jushiro said. "He use to work for us. Duel spirits came from their world to our world. They brought mischief into our world and we prevented it. Kugo helped us out with that and I was the person that brought him into it."

"You did?!" Rukia said.

"Yes." Jushiro said. "I took Kugo under my wing and he was one of the best we ever had. However, he wouldn't strike down small and innocent spirits. Higher authorities didn't tolerate it. That was when Kugo started to go against us. It's all my fault that this is happening because I'm the one who brought him into this."

"I see. So do you have any idea how he's going to get his revenge? He couldn't be foolish enough to just blindly attack." Rukia said. "There must be something here that would help him obtain it."

"I'm not exactly sure, but he must be stopped." Jushiro said.

"You're right. Kugo would assault and manipulate anyone to get it." Rukia said. "I'll go and find him."

"Rukia, be careful." Jushiro said and Rukia understood that as she went out to find Kugo.

…

Giriko

Giriko and Riruka were moving through the entire building and was causing havoc through the entire building. They tried to keep their attention away from Kugo and Tsukishima.

"This is almost too easy." Giriko said as he pulled out a few wires and caused the lights to go out.

"I don't think you're suppose to be here."

"Who said that? Who's there?" Giriko said as he looked around. Emergency power came on and the lights kicked up and he was faced with the menacing Kenpachi Zaraki.

"Are you one of the bugs causing us trouble?" Kenpachi said. "I was in the middle of a nap and I don't like being bothered when I'm napping."

"I'm sorry, but I have work to do. Why don't you go back to your nap while I wreck the place?" Giriko said.

"Sorry, but I can't do that because all the noise is going to keep me up." Kenpachi said. "Besides, I haven't gotten a good duel in a while. So are you the strongest of your group? If not, you're just wasting my time."

"You just sound like a muscle head idiot." Giriko said. "I'll put you in your place." He turned on his duel disk and Kenpachi did the same.

"Let's duel!" Both of them said and had 4000LP.

"I'll go." Kenpachi said as he drew his card. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"That's it? I thought you would have been more of a challenge." Giriko said. "I summon my Kronos Knight in attack mode." His knight rose to the field with 1200atk points. "Next I use my knight's special ability. I take one monster in my hand and remove it from play. It will return on my next turn. It won't be gone long because I activate Kronos Spirit. I can start my turn all over again. I just need to give up 1000 of my life points." Giriko's life points dropped to 3000.

"Is that all?" Kenpachi said.

"Yes because it allows me to bring out the monster I discarded. Say hello to Future Manipulator." Giriko said as Future Manipulator came out through a dimensional opening with 2700atk points. "You should have defended yourself because both of them can now attack." Both of his knights attacked and slashed against Kenpachi with his life points dropping to 100. However, Kenpachi didn't even flinch. "You do well on hiding your fear."

"I have no fear." Kenpachi said. "In fact, you just dug your own grave. I'm activating my trap, Armageddon War Result."

"What's that?" Giriko said.

"It's simple. All damage I took from direct attacks is dealt to you." Kenpachi said.

"What?!" Giriko said.

"You shouldn't have given up your life points." Kenpachi said. "Then again, it wouldn't have made any difference." A gigantic blast of energy shot out from the card. Giriko couldn't stop it and he took the attack full blast. He was sent flying through the hall and crashed through a glass door with all his life points reaching zero. "That was just a waste. I'm going back to my nap."

"No you don't!" Yachiru said as she came right out from under his shirt. "There are still intruders and Gramps told us to track them all down."

"No way if they're all weak. I'm out of here." Kenpachi said as he just left Giriko like that and let security handle him. Time was up for Giriko before it could truly start.

…

Yukio

"This isn't good." Yukio said. He was able to gain security access and saw what happened to Giriko. "Kugo, are you there? Can you hear me?"

"What is it?" Kugo said.

"Small problem. Giriko's down." Yukio said. "He was taken out after just one round. We've got some serious competition here."

"Don't worry about it. We'll go back for him." Kugo said.

"If you say so." Yukio said and switch to a different person. "Jackie, how is it going on your end?"

"Nothing to report." Jackie said. Yukio looked down and saw Jackie was just standing at the door. Yukio looked down the street and saw Ichigo and his friends heading her way.

"Heads up. You're about to get some uninvited guests." Yukio said. Jackie didn't understand until she looked ahead and saw Ichigo and the others.

"Almost there!" Ichigo said as they were nearing the door, but they stopped when they saw.

"You guys are a little late to the party." Jackie said.

"Jackie! I guess that means Kugo is already inside and you're standing guard like some kind of dog." Ichigo said. "Get out of the way already."

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Jackie said. "I'm a little surprise you're here Ichigo. After Kugo tore up your Zangetsu card, I thought we saw the last of you."

"I've got a little surprise for you." Ichigo said as he reached for his duel disk, but Renji stepped forward.

"Hold on, I'll handle this." Renji said.

"Why you?" Ichigo asked.

"Ichigo, listen." Uryu said as he placed his hand on Ichigo's shoulder and whispered to him. "They don't know about your new Tensa Zangetsu. If you use it against her, she might alert Kugo. We need to try to keep the element of surprise against him."

"Got it." Ichigo said as he fully understood.

"Since you are a woman, I'll give you an easy way option." Renji said. "You could stand down and just let us go through."

"Offering that just because I'm a woman?" Jackie questioned. "Is that because you're a gentlemen because you don't like to roughhouse with girls or are you just narrow minded?" That got a small laugh from Ichigo knowing one was true and the other wasn't.

"Just thought I offer, but since you refuse to move out of the way, I guess there's no other option." Renji said.

"Jackie, if you give me a few minutes, I should be able to block off the building so they can't get in no matter what." Yukio said. "You can't let those guys get through."

"You don't need to worry about it, Yukio. I can handle everything from here." Jackie said. "You just stay focus on helping out Kugo and the others." She placed her duel disk on and was ready to throw down with Renji. "If you want to get through these doors, you'll have to beat me first."

"That won't be a problem with me." Renji said as he placed his duel disk on. Both of them activated their duel disks and they set.

"Let's duel!" Both of them said and had 4000LP.

"Since you're a gentlemen or narrow minded, I'll make the first move. I draw" Jackie said as she drew her first card.

'Renji better win this or we can't get in and stop Kugo and who knows what he's up to in there.' Ichigo thought.


	17. Kick of the Earth

Xcution had success in infiltrating the Soul Society, but Giriko has already been defeated in just one round by Kenpachi. There was also Renji against Jackie. Renji needed to win against her if Ichigo and the others are going to get inside and stop Kugo.

"Here goes." Jackie said as she was the one starting the duel. "I'll activate my Muddy Water spell." The entire field changed around with water and rock columns forming.

"Not good. Renji, be careful. This field spell increases damage by 500 when she attacks with water and earth attributes." Ichigo warned.

"That's right and I'm not done." Jackie said. "I summon Mud Creeper in attack mode." A ball of mud with a face on it came on the field and had 600atk points. "Next, I'm activating Dirty Trail. This allows me to summon all three copies of Mud Crawler on the field." Three brown beetles came on the field and they had no attack points.

"What's she up to?" Renji said.

"I think she's about to unite summon with all four monsters." Chad said.

"That's right. I unite my earth attribute, level two Mud Creeper with all three of my level one Mud Crawlers to unite summon Dirty Boots." Jackie said. All the monsters became orange energy and combined together with Dirty Boots coming on the field with 2000atk points.

"That monster has got some real kick." Chad said.

"What do you mean" Orihime said.

"Once a turn, that monster gains 300atk points for each earth attribute monster in her graveyard." Ichigo said. "Since her monster has four unite units, she'll gain 1200atk points each turn."

"Added to this field spell, Renji's in for it." Uryu said.

"Your friends are right. I'll show you." Jackie said. "I use one unite unit to give her another 300atk points for each earth attribute monster in my grave. Since there are four, 1200atk points are coming her way." One unit entered her leg and her attack points rose to 3200. "I think that's it for my turn."

"My move!" Renji said as he drew his next card. "Perfect. I summon Flame Cobra in attack mode." His red cobra rose with 1400atk points. "Next, I'm going to activate my Wildfire Animal. This allows me to summon a beast monster as long as it's a fire attribute monster. Say hello to my Burning Gorilla." His gorilla came out with 1800atk points. "Next, I unite my cobra and my gorilla." The two became red energy and came together. "I unite summon Zabimaru!" Zabimaru showed up with all 2400atk points.

"An impressive monster, but you still can't beat my Dirty Boots." Jackie said.

"How about this? I'll use both of my unite units to increase Zabimaru's attack points by 500 for each one." Two units entered through the snake tail and Zabimaru's attack points went up to 3400. "Zabbimaru, attack with **Baboon Snake Fury**!" The monkey went on a rampage and gave Dirty Boots a powerful blow that destroyed her and caused Jackie's life points to drop to 3800.

"Not a bad shot." Jackie said.

"I'm just getting start. For now, I end my turn." Renji said.

"Unreal. They both summoned their best monsters on their first turns and Renji's already destroyed hers." Ichigo said.

"He started out good, but if we're going to get in there and get to Kugo, he needs to do some real damage." Uryu said.

"We'll just have to hope that Renji can pull this off fast." Orihime said. That was all they can do, but time is running out for them.

…

Toshiro

Toshiro went into a computer room with available staff working away on the computers. He looked to see if they found anything on the person who has hacked them.

"Anything?" Toshiro asked.

"I'm afraid not. There are several locations that we've tracked to, but nothing."

"Keep searching. There must be a source somewhere." Toshiro said and left. He was walking down the hall until he noticed something outside the window. He looked across the street to the building over and on the roof he found Yukio. "It looks like I might have found our hacker."

…

Renji and Jackie

"My turn!" Jackie said. "I play Harmonious Triad. Since I have three copies of the same monster in my graveyard, this trap is able to bring all three of them back. I'm bringing back all three of my Mud Crawlers." All three beetles rose back on the field.

"Those beetles don't have any attack points. What are you up to?" Renji said.

"You'll find out soon enough. I summon Mud Worm in attack mode." Jackie said. A worm rose out of the water and had no attack points. "I'm also going to use his special ability to change him from a water attribute to an earth attribute."

"Trying another unite summon?" Renji said.

"Wait and see." Jackie said. "I'm activating Mud Formation. This brings back an earth attribute monster from my graveyard if it has less than 1500atk points. Welcome back, Mud Creeper." Her mud with a face came back.

"Five weak monsters. What could she be planning to do now?" Uryu said.

"Finally, I'm going to activate Mud Creep's ability." Jackie said. "Since I have more earth attribute monsters, Mud Creep's level increases for each one. Since I have four, he becomes a level six."

"This isn't going to end well." Renji said.

"No it won't. I unite my earth attribute, level six Mud Creeper, all three of my level one Mud Crawlers, and my level one Mud Worm." Jackie said. All five of the monsters became orange energy and combined together. "I unite summon Motor Boots." A woman in white clothing came out with exhaust pipes and motorcycle engine on her right shoulder and thighs. She also had 2000atk points.

"That monster doesn't look much different than your last one." Renji said.

"I'll show you." Jackie said. "Thanks to Motor Boots special ability, she gains 500atk points for each earth attribute monster in my graveyard." One unit entered her leg and her attack points rose to 4000.

"That's not enough to scare me." Renji said.

"It should be." Jackie said. "My field spell is still in effect. That will deal 500 points of extra damage. Motor Boots has another ability. When she deals damage, she deals an additional 1000 points of damage."

"Wait. How much is that?" Orihime said as she tried to do the math.

"That's a total of 2100 points of damage." Uryu answered for her.

"Allow me to show you." Jackie said as her monster was revving up her motors. "Attack with **Destroying Flash Kick**!" Her monster moved incredibly fast and gave Zabimaru a powerful kick. The shockwave was intense as Renji was being pushed back. Zabimaru was destroyed and his life points dropped to 1900. "I think that's enough for one turn."

"Okay. I think I'm getting it now. Time to put an end to this." Renji said as he drew his next card.

"Put an end to this? How are you going to do that? My Motor Boots has a total of 4000atk points and will get stronger on my next turn." Jackie said.

"I'll show you!" Renji said. "I play Monster Reborn. Welcome back, Zabimaru!" Zabimaru rose back to the field with Renji surrounded by a red energy. "Go, unitetion evolution!" A vortex opened up with Zabimaru diving inside. "Appear, Zabimaru Serpent!" A serpent made of bones with a red mane rose up and had 2400atk points with an extra unite unit. "I use Zabimaru Serpent's ability. I use one unite unit to take away 500 of your monster's attack points and you lose half of your life points." His serpent ate the unit and shot out energy spikes from its bones. They slashed against Jackie, with her life points dropping to 1900, and her Motor Boots, with her attack points going down to 3500.

"That still can't save you." Jackie said.

"I beg to differ." Renji said. "I'm playing Flames of King. This spell takes the attack points of your monster and gives them to mine. He might get destroyed at the end, but I don't think that's a problem." Zabimaru's Serpent attack power rose up to 5900.

"Uh oh! This isn't good!" Jackie said.

"Zabimaru Serpent, attack and end this with **Baboon King Cannon**!" Renji said. Zabimaru Serpent powered up an energy blast in its mouth and fired. Motor Boots was blasted and destroyed. Jackie was thrown through the door and Jackie lost the last of her life points.

"Alright!" Ichigo said.

"Let's go!" Renji said as all of them hurried to the door.

"I don't think so." Yukio said as he was going to lock them, but Jackie left the doors open. "What's she doing?"

"Hurry." Jackie said as she let them in. "Great duel. You've earned your win in here. Now go."

"Thanks. Let's split up and find Kugo." Ichigo said as all of the scattered throughout the building.

"You won't get the chance." Yukio said as he was working in the systems, but he saw a grapple hook shoot out from the Soul Society building and connect to the roof. He saw someone jumped out and swing and pulled over to him. The person made it and he saw it was Toshiro. Toshiro knocked the computer out of his hands.

"Your hacking days are done for." Toshiro said. Another duel is about to be on its way.

…..

Kugo

Kugo and Tsukishima made it to the lower levels of the building. They arrived in a large and vacant room with standing on a railing.

"Here we are?" Kugo said. "Yukio, are you there?" He wasn't getting any respond. "Nothing. Guess we'll have to do this the hard way.

"What are we doing here?" Tsukishima said.

"You're about to see something out of this world." Kugo said as he walked over to a control console. He fiddled around with it and got the right sequence. The floor opened up and Tsukishima saw something below. A giant portal that lead to parts he did not know.

"What is that?" Tsukishima said.

"The portal to the duel monster spirit world." Kugo said. "We're going to use this to bring an end to the Soul Society and everyone that's in it."


	18. The Game's Over

The battle happening within the Soul Society continued with three members of Xcution defeated. Yukio had hacked his way through the entire system, but Toshiro was able to find him and is ready to bring him down as well.

"You're one of the higher ups in that building, aren't you? It's impressive since you are around the same age as me." Yukio said.

"I didn't come all this way so you and I can have a chat." Toshiro said. "You're the one that hacked into our systems and that's brought to an end."

"I don't think so." Yukio said. "This is just the beginning. It's Kugo that's the real threat to you guys and he's going to make sure each one of you is miserable."

"I'll just have to deal with him after I'm through with you." Toshiro said he placed on his duel disk. Yukio did the same and they were both ready to start their showdown.

"Let's duel!" Both of them said and had a full 4000LP.

"I'll make the first move!" Toshiro said as he drew his card. "I summon Hail Dragon in attack mode." A white dragon came out with 1500atk points. "I'll also have him use his special ability to deal 300 points of direct damage to you." Hail came down around Yukio and his life points dropped down to 3700. "I place one card facedown to end my turn."

"My move then." Yukio said as he drew his card. "I activate a field spell known as Chatroom." The entire field changed around to a metal room.

"I've never heard of this spell." Toshiro said.

"I'll gladly explain it to you." Yukio said. "This field spell allows another monster to join the field as long as it has Virtual in its name. I can also bring my used cards to the bottom or top of my deck. Basically, I can use my entire deck again and again."

"That won't stop me." Toshiro said.

"We'll see about that." Yukio said. "I summon my Virtual Invader Hunter and thanks to my field spell, I'll bring out a second one." Two of his aliens came on the field and both had 1400atk points.

"Neither of those creatures have enough attack points to take down my dragon." Toshiro said.

"That's why I'm going to activate my Two Player Bonus. Since I have two monsters of the same name on the field, they both gain 1000atk points." Both his aliens had their attack points rise to 2400. "Thanks to my field spell, I think I'll place this spell on the bottom of my deck. I doubt I'll need it for next turn."

"So if you attack, I'll only have 700LP remaining." Toshiro said. "That won't be happening. I activate my trap." His trap was revealed and shining blue blizzard was formed on the field. "It's known as Blue Blizzard. Since I have a water attribute monster, you're unable to attack him with monsters that have attack points that are higher than their original."

"You're only stalling. I place one face-down to end my turn." Yukio said as the blizzard cleared away. "Since my turn is over, my hunters lose their added attack power." His aliens returned to normal strength.

"My move." Toshiro said.

"That's right and because it is, I can activate my trap, New Game Starter." Yukio said. "This trap returns all monsters on the field back into our decks. We have to also send all the cards in our hands to our decks, shuffle, and draw a fresh new hand." All the monsters returned to their owners and they both shuffled their deck around and draw new cards. "I think I'll place my trap at the top of my deck."

'What could he be up to? Why didn't he save that trap for his next turn?' Toshiro thought. 'He had more monsters than I did, but he's left defenseless.'

"Are you going to continue with your turn?" Yukio said.

"I guess there's only one way to know for sure what he's up to." Toshiro said. "I summon my Cold Front Dragon." A blue dragon came on the field with cold air and had 1200atk points. "Cold Front Dragon, attack him directly!" His dragon breathed out a blast of cold air and blasted Yukio with it. However, something strange happened. Yukio didn't lose any life points and his life points rose to 4400. "What just happened?"

"It's thanks to this little guy." Yukio said as he held up a card. "It's known as Virtual Invader Baby. If I send this card to the graveyard, I take no damage. However, my field spell brings him back to my deck and when he goes from my hand or graveyard to my deck, I gain 700LP."

"You're just playing around with me. Why?" Toshiro said.

"To show you my skill, my power." Yukio said. "I have complete control over this duel. I can have it go anyway I want and there's nothing you can do about it."

"We'll see about that. I'll end my turn with one face-down." Toshiro said.

"And I'll end this." Yukio said as he drew his card, but Toshiro already knew what that card was. "I summon my Virtual Invader Sniper." His sniper rose up with 1700atk points. "Thanks to my field spell, I'm also going to summon Virtual Invader Flyer." A battle jet with the pilot another alien flew out with it having 1300atk points. "I'm also going to use my Flyer's ability which allows me to take any spell or trap card I want from my deck and add it to my hand." He took out the very card he wanted.

"And what card might that be?" Toshio asked.

"I'll show you." Yukio said. "I activate Battle Global. By paying 2000LP, I can summon a level four or lower monster for every available monster zone. I have three available zones. That means I can summon three monsters." His life points dropped down to 2400. "I'm bringing out all three of my Virtual Invader Hunters and also bringing this card to the bottom of my deck." All three of his hunters came out with their 1400atk points.

"That is impressive, but I know another flaw to your spell. No matter how many monsters you have, the damage is only totaled by the number of spaces you had available multiplied by 100." Toshiro said. "Since you had three spaces, all damage will only be 300."

"True, but you're still taking a beating. First, I'm using my Virtual Invader Sniper's ability to take away 200 of your life points for every monster on the field." Yukio said. The alien attacked and blasted Toshiro and had his life points drop to 2800. "Attack!" All his monsters shot out lasers and destroyed Toshiro's dragon and blasted him. All the attacks and damage brought Toshiro's life points to 1300. "That did some damage. I think that's enough for this turn."

"My move!" Toshiro said.

"Take all the turns you want. It's not going to matter." Yukio said. "A person like you can't beat me. You were given a good life being pampered in a warm environment."

"I see. You were abandoned." Toshiro said and that struck a nerve in Yukio.

"No! I left my stupid parents! They never took a child serious." Yukio said. "So I had my dad go bankrupt and took over his company and all his money."

"Whatever." Toshiro said as he drew his card. "I really don't care about your backstory. All I care about right now is stopping you. I'll start activating my trap, Flurry Heaven. This trap allows me to draw two more cards. What's more is that if I summon a monster, its level goes up by one. I'll do just that by summoning out my Hail Dragon once more." His dragon returned and it went form a level three to level four. "Since he was summoned, he can take away 300 of your life points."

"Fine." Yukio said as he took the hail attack and his life points dropped to 2100. "It won't make any difference."

"We'll see about that." Toshiro said. "Since I have a water attribute monster that's also a dragon, I can special summon Frogar: Ice Drago King." A dark blue dragon with ice on its wings rose on the field with 1900atk points. "Don't forget that Flurry Heaven will change him from a level five to a level six."

"So what?" Yukio said until it came to him. "Unless you're about to do what I think you're going to do."

"That's right. I unite my water attribute, level four Hail Dragon with level six Frogar." Toshiro said as his two dragons became blue energy and merged together. "I unite summon Hyorinmaru!" A man with long green hair and a blue cross over his face came out with 2900atk points. "Hyorinmaru, attack his Virtual Invader Flyer with **Ice Dragon Reign**." Hyroinmaru held out his hand and unleashed a dragon made of ice that bit down and crushed the jet with Yukio's life points dropping to 500.

"I'm still here." Yukio said.

"For a few minutes because I'm activating Ice Dragon Rage." Toshiro said. "This spell allows me to deal damage based on the attack points of a water attribute dragon I have in my grave. Any of them would suffice. I choose Frogar." A blast of a snow storm shot out and hit Yukio and the last of his life points dropped to nothing and it was game over for him. Toshiro won and walked right over to Yukio.

"You got me." Yukio said.

"I'm not done with you yet." Toshiro said. He grabbed Yukio by the collar and held him dangerously close to the edge.

"Whoa! What do you think you're doing?" Yukio said.

"You're going to give me answers I'm looking for." Toshiro said. "If you refuse…I hope your money gave you the ability to fly."

"Okay. You think a guy of ice would be more chilled." Yukio said.

"What exactly is this Kugo trying to accomplish?" Toshiro asked.

"That's easy. The whole Soul Society is about to have their entire world turned upside down." Yukio said.

…..

Kugo

Kugo continued to fiddle around with the control console as Tsukishima stared at the portal that lead to the spirit world.

"This is harder than I thought without Yukio. I don't even know if I'm doing this right." Kugo said.

"I hope so for our sake." Tsukishima said.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to have us disappear." Kugo said. "The Soul Society thinks the duel monster spirit world is such an awful place. They'll see for it themselves when this building and everyone else in it disappear into that portal." If he isn't stopped, it's going to be game over for everyone.


	19. Dolls and Snow Pt1

Time was of the essence. Kugo was planning to have the entire Soul Society building and everyone that was in it to fall into the duel monster spirit world. Ichigo and his friends split up so they could find him and stop him. Ichigo was with Orihime and Uryu, but there was no sign of Kugo anywhere.

"Where is he? Where could he have gone?" Ichigo said.

"It would help if we knew what Kugo was after exactly." Uryu said since they weren't aware yet of what Kugo is planning.

"I guess all we can do is keep searching." Orihime said.

"She's right." Ichigo said. "All we can do is keep searching. I just hope we won't be too late for whatever he has planned." All of them agreed and kept up their search.

…..

Toshiro

"Say that again!" Yamamoto said. Toshiro reported back after dealing with Yukio and headed straight for Yamamoto.

"It's true. The leader of the intruders is planning on using the portal to the spirit world and is going to try send the entire building through it." Toshiro said. "He's hoping we'll get caught in it. All that information came from the one I captured. Should we evacuate?"

"No. Perhaps we can stop him before he starts the process. Perhaps he hasn't made it yet." Yamamoto said.

"I hope so. Also, our old associate, Ichigo Kurosaki, is here as well as his friends." Toshiro said.

"Ichigo Kurosaki is here?" Yamamoto said. "I see. That might be a good thing. It's possible we might need his help one more time. For now, try to find the leader of our intruders. If he's already sabotaged the portal, fix it."

"Yes sir." Toshiro agreed and left the room.

"Kugo Ginjo, I shouldn't have taken it for granted that you would come back for revenge." Yamamoto said. "Even so, I know that you will fail."

…

Renji and Chad

Renji and Chad were another team as they continued their search for Kugo as well, but they weren't having any better luck than the others.

"Dang it. Where could he be?" Renji said.

"Let's try to stay calm. I don't know about you, but I don't want to fall under Tsukishima's control again." Chad said.

"I hear ya. If we get all worked up, that creep is going to take advantage of it and we'll be his servants again." Renji said. "I just wish I knew where he and Kugo were." He looked down the hall and he thought he saw Rukia run by. "Rukia?"

"What?" Chad asked.

"I thought I saw Rukia. Let's go." Renji said as he ran ahead and Chad followed to try and catch up to Rukia.

…..

The Portal

"Hurry up. The longer we stay here, the more likely we are at getting caught." Tsukishima said as Kugo continued to fiddle with the machine.

"I'm trying. I'm not like Yukio. I'm not good with computers." Kugo said until he saw the screen flashing red and an alarm was going off. "Wait. I think I got it."

"Let's look in here." They both heard a voice and looked up at a higher level and saw Ichigo and the others.

"It's this place again!" Ichigo said as he remembered he faced Byakuya here with Renji and Uryu which allowed them to save Rukia. He looked down and spotted them. "Kugo! Tsukishima!"

Ichigo! This is a surprise, but you're too late." Kugo said. Ichigo didn't understand, but he got a little distracted when he looked further down and saw the portal opened up.

"No way! I can't believe they still have that portal." Ichigo said.

"Forget the portal. They're getting away." Uryu said as he saw Kugo and Tsukishima made a run for it.

"No they're not. Orihime, stay right there." Ichigo said as he and Uryu climbed own and was able to land on the level below them. Both of them ran to the other side and Uryu saw the computer.

"What's this?" Uryu said as he tried to take a look at it.

"What's the matter?" Ichigo said.

"This isn't good." Uryu said. "Kugo set the portal projectors, what's causing the portal to be open, on overload. He's going to send this entire building through it."

"What? Can you stop it?" Ichigo wondered.

"I'll try, but it looks like he messed it up good." Uryu said. "It's set to go off in an hour."

"Orihime!" Ichigo called out and got her attention. "You go warn everyone and try to get them out of here. Uryu, you try to stop this thing from going off."

"What about you?" Uryu asked.

"I'm going after Kugo." Ichigo said and began the chase.

"Ichigo, be careful." Orihime called out. Time was running short and they all had to move fast if Kugo is to be stopped.

…

Riruka

Riruka continued to trash the entire building to keep some of those who work in the building occupied. She even stopped in a kitchen and grabbed a few donuts.

"This is starting to become a drag. Where's Kugo? Is he done yet?" Riruka said.

"Riruka, can you hear me?" Kugo said through the communication earpieces.

"Kugo? What's going on?" Riruka asked.

"We've got the portal and its set on overload. It's about to swallow this entire place in less than an hour." Kugo said.

"One hour? What's the matter? You couldn't get it to go off any sooner?" Riruka said.

"It's plenty of time for us to get out of here and I had to pull out of there." Kugo said. "Riruka, everyone else has been captured. We've got to get out before the portal swallows all of us."

"But we can't just abandon them." Riruka said. She refused to leave behind her comrades.

"Nice to know you have something that sounds like a conscious." Riruka looked behind her and saw Rukia was able to find her.

"Riruka, what's going on?" Kugo said.

"I'll have to call you back." Riruka said as she pulled out her earpiece and turned to face Rukia. "You're Rukia Kuchiki. You're a pretty good friend to Ichigo."

"That's right and your one of the guys that played him." Rukia said. She tried to hide it, but Riruka seemed to have some regret on her face. "I think it's time you told me what's going on."

"I don't think so." Riruka said. "I'm on the clock, but I think I have time for a match."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Rukia said.

"You have a bigger concern right now." Riruka said. She took out her duel disk and activated it. Rukia saw there was only one way for her to handle this.

"You've asked for it." Rukia said as she placed her duel disk on and turned it on with both of them ready to go.

"Duel!" Both said and had 4000LP.

"I'll make the first move." Riruka said. "I activate Plushy Paradise." The entire room changed around to one with giant stuffed animals, giant sweets, and padded room.

"What? What is all this?" Rukia said.

"This field spell will make sure no light attribute monster is destroyed." Riruka said. "It also gives us life points whenever we summon a light attribute monster. Next, I summon Plush Rabbit in attack mode." A pink plushy rabbit came on the field with no attack points. "Since my rabbit is also a light attribute, I gain 100LP." Her life points rose up to 4100. "I place two cards facedown and end my turn."

"Aww! It's so adorable. I don't think I can bring myself to actually attack it!" Rukia squealed to which Riruka was not expecting, but she snapped herself out of it. "No. Stop it. You have to take her down. She summoned a monster that has no attack points. Obviously, she's planning something with those two cards. Sadly, I can't use this field spell to my advantage since my monsters are mostly wind or water attribute."

"Are you going to go or not?" Riruka said.

"Alright. I summon Snow White Wolf." Rukia said. A white fur wolf came out and had 1500atk points. 'I've got to be careful. She might spring something with either of those cards.'

"I activate my trap." Riruka said. "It's known as Love Permit. Since you just summoned a monster, this trap equips your monster to one that has no attack points." A heart was stamped on the wolf and it was pulled in as pink energy and entered the rabbit.

"My wolf!" Rukia shouted in concern.

"It's inside my rabbit now and all of its attack points are added in." Riruka said as her rabbit's attack points increase to 1500. "That's not all I'm going to do. I activate the Take Back trap card. Take Back allows me to take the last trap that was used." Her Love Permit was placed in her hand.

"She must have another monster that has no attack points just waiting to come out." Rukia assumed. "Dang it. I don't have much of anything that can defend me at the moment."

"Is there anything else you like to try?" Riruka said. "I don't have a lot of time to waste on you."

"Since you're in a hurry, I'll just place one face-down and end my turn." Rukia said.

"My turn!" Riruka said as she drew her next card. "I summon Doll Princess in attack mode." A princess doll rose on the field with 1000atk points. "Since she's another light attribute monster, I get another 100LP and fortify my wall of defense." Her life points increased again to 4200. "Doll Princess, attack her directly with **Royal Doll Bashing**." The princess was covered in light and tackled Rukia with her life points dropping to 3000.

"What's with the giant stuffed animals?" Neither of them noticed that Renji and Chad showed up while the duel was going on. "Did we take a wrong turn and end up in some little girl's imagination?" Renji complained. They both stopped and looked ahead and saw the duel was going on.

"A duel!" Chad said.

"Looks like Rukia found one of them." Renji said.

"And it doesn't look like Rukia is doing so well." Chad said.

"Plush Rabbit, attack her directly! Use her own monster's power against her!" Riruka said. The rabbit jumped right at Rukia and gave her a hard tackle that pushed her back and had her life points drop to 1500.

"Rukia!" Renji shouted.

To Be Continued….


	20. Dolls and Snow Pt2

Four down and only three to go, but Riruka has taken a lead in a duel against Rukia. They were both in Plushy Paradise and Riruka had Doll Princess with 1000atk points and her Plush Rabbit. Because of a trap, Plush Rabbit absorbed Rukia's Snow White Wolf and now has 1800atk points. All Rukia had was one face-down. On top of that, Riruka had 4200LP and Rukia only had 1500.

"Rukia, are you okay?" Renji said as he ran to her aide and helped her stand up.

"Renji? Chad? What are you guys doing here?" Rukia said.

"Helping you at the moment." Renji said.

"Are you alright?" Chad asked.

"You don't need to worry about me. I'm fine." Rukia said.

"She might be, but she won't for long." Riruka said. "We still have a duel going on here and I don't have much time to waste. It's your turn."

"This isn't looking good." Rukia said.

"What do you mean?" Renji said.

"For starters, her field spell makes it so light attribute monsters can't be destroyed and the owner gains 100LP each time one is summoned." Rukia said. "On top of that, she took one of my monsters and it equipped it to that rabbit. On top of that, her monsters are so cute and adorable!"

"You might want to stay focus." Chad said and snapped her back to reality.

"You're right. Here goes!" Rukia said as she drew her next card. "To start, I'm playing my Beautiful Snow trap. Time to regain some life points. If I send a Snow White monster in my hand to the grave, I gain life points equal to its attack points. Farewell, Snow White Swan and she had 1600atk points." She discarded her card and her life points increased to 3100. "I'm also going to activate Snow Formation." A cloud formed over them.

"What's that? Are you going to make it snow?" Riruka said.

"Not quite. This spell allows me to bring a Snow White monster in my grave. It just has to be a water attribute." Rukia said. "I'm bringing back my Snow White Swan." Her swan flew down from the cloud with 1600atk points. "Snow White Swan, attack her Doll Princess with **Graceful Flapping**." The swan flapped its wings and created a strong gust of wind and snow.

"Thanks to my field spell, my doll won't be destroyed." Riruka said.

"Perhaps, but you're still going to take some damage." Rukia said. The doll got hit and Riruka took some damage with her life points dropping down to 3600. "I think that's enough for this turn."

"I guess that means it's my turn." Riruka said as she drew her next card. "I play my Zero to Nothing. This spell drops the attack of points of one monster on my field to nothing." Her Doll Princess' attack points dropped to zero.

"Why would she do that?" Chad said.

"Because there's a trap in her hand that she can use because of it." Rukia said.

"I place one card face-down and end my turn." Riruka said.

'I've got to prevent her from activating that trap. It has to be Love Permit.' Rukia analyzed. 'The next card I draw has to be one that can prevent that from happening.' She drew her next card and was hoping it would be what she hope it is and she was glad to see it was. "I activate Frozen Dance. Since Snow White Swan is on the field, this card can destroy all your spell and trap cards."

"All of them?!" Riruka said. A blizzard blew in and destroyed Riruka's Plushy Paradise as well as her trap that did become Love Permit.

"Since your spells and traps are gone, I don't need to worry about summoning another monster." Rukia said. "I summon my Snow White Crane." A white feathered crane rose on the field with 900atk points. "Next, I unite my water attribute, level four Snow White Swan and Crane." The two of them became blue energy and the two united. "I unite summon Sode no Shirayuki!" Sode no Shirayuki, a beautiful woman with white hair and a white kimono. She rose on the field with 2400atk points.

"Oh my! That monster is beautiful!" Riruka said.

"She's as powerful as she is beautiful." Rukia said. "Sode no Shirayuki, attack her Doll Princess with **First Dance: Ice Pillar**!" Sode no Shirayuki held out her hand and a circle of ice formed around the doll. Ice shot up to the ceiling with the doll trapped inside. The pillar shattered with doll being destroyed. Riruka's life points dropped down 800.

"Way to go, Rukia." Chad said.

"Yeah. You're making a real comeback." Renji said.

"Before we continue, there's something I want to ask you." Rukia said. "Something I want to know about you people."

"What is it?" Riruka said.

"Was the whole reason you formed this group so that Kugo could have his revenge?" Rukia said. "There must be more to it than that."

"Why do you care?" Riruka said.

"I just want a better understanding." Rukia said. "Ichigo told me that Xcution was formed so you all could realize your dreams and become champions. Was any of that true or was just more of Tsukishima's lies?"

"It actually started out that way." Riruka said as she thought back to her time in Xcution. "We lost those that was precious to us. No one believed we could actually be champions. I joined Xcution to prove them wrong. Kugo told us that in this world, it's survival of the fittest."

"What does any of that have to do with what's happening now?" Renji said.

"Kugo told us that this Soul Society is among the mightiest." Riruka said. "If we bring them down, we become the mightiest."

"I can understand you wanting to be the strongest, but this has nothing to do with being strong." Rukia said. "Kugo sounds like he'll say anything just as long as he gets his way and all he wants is revenge. Tell me, Riruka, does any of what you've been doing up until now has anything to do with strength. Was manipulating and hurting Ichigo really worth it?" Riruka was having her doubts about this whole thing before, but since she was thinking clearly now, she saw where she went wrong.

"Right." Riruka said.

"We have to continue with this duel. It's your turn." Rukia said.

"Forget the duel. You win!" Riruka said as she played a card and it unleashed a bright pink flash that blinded Rukia and the boys. When the light cleared away and they could see again, they saw that Riruka escaped.

"She got away!" Chad said.

"Coward. She rather run and hide than face defeat and the consequences." Renji said, but Rukia was thinking differently.

"I don't think that's it at all." Rukia said.

…

Ichigo

Ichigo continued to race after Kugo and Tsukishima. He was beginning to catch up to them as he saw the both of them right in his sights.

"There you two are. Get back here!" Ichigo called out.

"He's still after us?" Kugo said as he looked back to look at Ichigo. "Doesn't he know when he should give up?"

"You keep going Kugo. I'll take care of him." Tsukishima said.

"Are you sure? If you stop to duel him now, you won't be able to make it out in time." Kugo said.

"Maybe so, but if you can get out, it will be worth it." Tsukishima said. "Besides, I know he likes to settle the score with me and he's no match for me. Just keep going." Tsukishima came to a stop as Kugo kept going. Ichigo stopped so that he faced Tsukishima.

"So you've decided to quit running." Ichigo said.

"More like I've decided to move a pest out of the way." Tsukishima said. "Why do you persist? You no longer have Zangetsu and you weren't a match from the very beginning."

"Keep talking, freak. That's just going to make it all the better when I give you the beat down you deserve." Ichigo said. "I still owe you one for what you did to my friends and my sisters."

"Is that so? I like to see you try." Tsukishima said as he activated his duel disk and was ready to start. Ichigo was about to start his up, but a flood of pink petals came from the corridor next to them and cut in between them.

"What's this?" Tsukishima asked.

"Wait, I know what this is." Ichigo said as he's seen it before. The petals disintegrated and revealed Byakuya and he looked like he was ready to take action. "Byakuya! What are you doing here?"

"Byakuya? I think I've heard of you. You're the brother of Ichigo's close friend: Rukia Kuchiki." Tsukishima said.

"Where did you even come from?" Ichigo said.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, you are not needed here." Byakuya said.

"Not needed?! Byakuya, I owe these guys some payback." Ichigo said.

"You misunderstood." Byakuya said. "You are not needed in this battle. I'm telling you to continue to go after their leader."

"But I have a score to settle with him." Ichigo said.

"It's a matter that will have to be settled another time." Byakuya said. "I have been informed about the portal to the spirit world being sabotaged and the person responsible for it is about to escape. You have to stop him. Without the leader, this group will fall apart. That should be your top priority." Ichigo thought about it and he's right. He can settle his matter with Tsukishima at any time, but Kugo needs to be stopped now.

"Alright. Just be careful, Byakuya. This guy has a few dangerous tricks." Ichigo said and kept going as he moved around the two.

"No you don't!" Tsukishima said as he was about to stop him, but Byakuya grabbed his arm and stopped him from interfering with Ichigo.

"I am your opponent, not him." Byakuya said.

"Is there a reason you're letting Ichigo Kurosaki stopping Kugo instead of going after him yourself?" Tsukishima said.

"As much as I am sure I can handle him myself, I despise the way you do things." Byakuya said. "Rukia told me that you use hypnotism in your dueling and you use it to change a person's memories around. It's disgraceful."

"What about Ichigo?" Tsukishima said.

"I'm not letting do this because he's too soft." Byakuya said. "He holds deep hatred for you, but I assume you can use that to your advantage. I'm not so easy for you to manipulate."

"Is that so? You are aware there's only half-hour left before that portal opens up and we all get swallowed up by it." Tsukishima said.

"You'll be defeated long before that." Byakuya said. Half the time is gone and half remain. Does Byakuya have what it takes to withstand Tsukishima's power.


	21. End of the End Pt1

"Darn it." Uryu said as he failed to get control over the portal. "I can't get control over it and there's less than thirty minutes. Sorry, Ichigo. I need to use that time to get out of here." Uryu sought best to use time wisely and get out. He could only hope the others make it out.

…

Toshiro

Toshiro was in a control room with some computer experts. He was also there with Sajin Komamura, who strangely looked like a giant dog.

"This isn't looking good." Sajin said.

"Not to worry. We'll make it." Toshiro said.

"Hello? Is there anyone left?"

"That sounds like Orihime Inoue." Toshiro said.

"We're in here!" Sajin called out and Orihime came running in to meet with both of them.

"You're Toshiro Hitsuguya and Sajin Komamura." Orihime acknowledge. "Listen, this entire building is about to be swallowed by that portal of yours. We've got to get out of here."

"We're already aware of it and we're doing everything we can to stop it." Sajin said.

"In the meantime, we're trying to apprehend the ones responsible for all of this." Toshiro said. "Three of them have been captured, but three more are still at large."

"Luckily, we have them in our sights and they aren't going anywhere." Sajin said. Orihime looked at some security footage and saw Kugo and Riruka running through some halls while she saw Tsukishima was about to face against Byakuya. "You don't need to worry young lady. We have everything under control."

"I hope so." Orihime said.

…

Kugo

Kugo kept running for it and he saw a door. Kugo was glad because he thought he was about to escape and his plans was about to come. Kugo grabbed the doorknob and took one last look at the building.

"Goodbye and good riddance, Soul Society." Kugo said. He tried opening the door, but it wouldn't budge. "You've got to be kidding me. The door's locked."

"Looks like it." Kugo turned around and saw Ichigo was able to catch up to him.

"Ichigo?! How could you have gotten pass Tsukishima?" Kugo said.

"Helps if you have friends in high places." Ichigo said. "From the looks of things, they came through again because you're not going anywhere. It's over Kugo, you're going to shut that portal down so this whole place doesn't disappear."

"You fool. I might have started that up, but I don't know how to stop it. I was just messing around with the whole thing." Kugo said.

"If that's true, the least I can do is make sure you stay here and have that portal swallow you up as well." Ichigo said.

"Is that so?" Kugo said. "Then, I say we settle things. Follow me." He said and made a run for it.

"Get back here!" Ichigo said as he went after him. 'Is he out of his mind? This place could disappear from the face of the planet at any moment.'

'I'm not a dummy. If these people managed to retake control, they might be able to get the portal under control.' Kugo thought. 'No worries. I brought Ichigo down before and I'll just do it again.'

…

Byakuya

Byakuya stood against Tsukishima as he took Ichigo's place. Despising how Tsukishima does things, he's decided to handle him personally.

"So you think you can defeat me before this entire place disappears." Tsukishima said. "Those are some bold words. Let's see if that's even true."

"You tried to rob the bonds Ichigo has with his friends and that is unforgivable." Byakuya said. "I shall be what defeats you." The two of them activated their duel disks and they were both ready to bring down the other.

"Let's duel!" Both of them said and got their 4000LP.

"I shall make the first move." Tsukishima said and saw he already drew his Book of the End spell. 'Excellent, but I better save this for when he summons a powerful monster and when I know the coast is clear. He might be expecting this.' He thought.

'I have to be on guard. I can't allow him to activate his Book of the End spell.' Byakuya thought. 'However, that card can't be stopped when it's played. I have to figure out how to stop him from using it before he activates it.'

"I summon Memory Sightseer Symmtry." Tsukishima said as his bat ink blot unfolded on the field with 1200atk points. "Next, I'm activating Symmtry's ability. It allows me to see the top card of your deck."

"Very well." Byakuya said as he drew his card and showed it was a trap known as Scatter Block.

"Thank you." Tsukishima said as Byakuya put it back. "I'm also going to activate a spell known as Future Alteration. If the top card you draw is the right type that I choose, you have to send it to the graveyard and lose 1000LP. I already know what it is. I know it's a trap."

"Very well." Byakuya said as he send that card to the graveyard and his life points dropped to 300.

"I'm also going to use Symmtry's ability again since the top has changed." Tsukishima said. Byakuya drew his next card and showed it was a monster known as Shinjuru the Silent Samurai. "Thank you again. I place one card facedown to end my turn."

"My turn." Byakuya said as he draw Shinjuru. "I activate Decree Passing. This allows me to take one monster in my hand and exchange it for another. I'll send Shinjuru back for another monster."

"Smart move since I already know what was under there." Tsukishima said as Byakuya changed his cards around.

"I summon Shutar of the Red Moon in attack mode." Byakuya said. A samurai swordsman in red clothing and red hair tied back came out with 1700atk points. "When Shutar is summoned to the field, it allows me to summon Shatar of the Blue Moon from my hand." A duplicate in blue came out with 1600atk points.

"Not so fast." Tsukishima said. "I activate my trap. Faux Memories. Since you have two monsters on the field and one was special summoned, this trap prevents you from attacking and your monsters will be destroyed at the end of the turn."

"I think not." Byakuya said. The trap unleashed some static and was destroyed.

"What happened?" Tsukishima asked.

"When Shutar and Shatar are both on the field, all card effects won't work on them." Byakuya said. "Shatar, attack his Symmtry with **Blue Moonlight Silencer**." Shutar moved quickly and silently and slashed down Symmtry with Tsukishima's points dropping down 3600. "Shutar, it's your turn with **Red Moonlight Silencer**." The other one slashed at Tsukishima and his life points dropped to 1900.

"Impressive. You're not highly skilled for nothing." Tsukishima said.

"That's the end of my turn." Byakuya said.

"I guess that means it's my turn." Tsukishima said as he drew his next card. "I play my Memory Restoration. All I have to do is remember what the first card in my graveyard is and I regain 500 of my life points. I remember that it's my Future Alteration. That means I gain another 500LP." His life points went up to 2400. "Next, I'm summoning Memory Sightseer Lencu." Another strange looking monster that looked like a bull head with 1800atk points.

"Such strange monsters you have." Byakuya said.

"Wait until you see Lencu's ability." Tsukishima said. "Lencu can attack twice on one turn. Strike with **Insightful Shockwave**." Lencu unleashed a roar-like attack that destroyed Shutar and Byakuya's life points dropped to 3900. "Again." Lencu unleashed that attack again and destroyed Shatar and Byakuya's life points went down again to 3700.

"So are you finished? That wasn't much damage." Byakuya said.

"I'm not quite done yet." Tsukishima said. "Lencu has one more ability which allows me to draw a card for each monster he destroyed." He draw two more cards and seemed quite glad with what he drew. "I activate Rewrite of Ancient Times. Since you don't have a monster on the field, but I do, this brings back the last monster that was destroyed, but it will have no attack points." Shatar of the Blue Moon came back on the field and his attack points dropped to nothing.

"Why would you give me back my own monster? What are you planning?" Byakuya asked.

"You'll find out soon enough. I place one card facedown to end my turn." Tsukishima said.

'That card can't be his Book of the End. That I'm certain of.' Byakuya thought. 'I have to be careful with what he plans.' "My move." He said as he drew his next card. "I switch Shatar of the Blue Moon in defense mode." His warrior switch to defense mode and had 1200def points.

"I'm afraid not." Tsukishima said. "I activate my Memorizing Sight. When you switch a monster into defense mode, this trap places it back in attack mode and you have to attack with that monster." A bright light caused Byakuya's monster to come back in attack mode.

"I thought so." Byakuya said.

"Excuse me?" Tsukishima said.

"I had a feeling that trap card you had would be one that made it so my monster would have to remain in attack mode and might have an added effect that could deal damage." Byakuya said.

"What for?" Tsukishima said.

"I needed to make sure it was safe." Byakuya said. "Your trap might make it so Shatar might remain in attack mode while he has no attack points and I might be force to attack, but you overlooked something. I can still use him as a tribute summoning."

"What?!" Tsukishima said.

"I release Shatar of the Blue Moon so that I can summon Chiron the Kashira of Fire." Byakuya said. A red armor samurai with flame patters and carried two swords with two flaming flags came out on the field with 2100atk points.

"Crafty and I fell for it." Tsukishima said. "You're quite the skilled duelist, Byakuya. I wonder what other surprises you might have for me."

"Care to find out?" Byakuya said.

"That is if you have any time." Tsukishima said as he reached inside his pocket and pulled out a small clock. "It seems we have about fifteen minutes or less time remaining before this entire place falls into the portal."

"That doesn't scare me. I'll still defeat you. You're not going to save yourself." Byakuya said.

"No. I don't' care what happens to me as long as Kugo has managed to escape." Tsukishima said. "If neither of us refuses to run, this might be the end for both of us." Time is almost up for the two of them and everyone else. Can the clock be beaten?

To Be Continued


	22. End of the End Pt2

There isn't much time remaining for the Soul Society and those still inside. Ichigo was pursing Kugo, Byakuya was dueling Tsukishima, and everyone else was doing everything they could to stop the portal. In Byakuya's duel against Tsukishima, Byakuya had 3700LP with his Chiron the Kashira of Fire with 2100atk points. Tsukishima had 2400LP and his Memory Sightseer Lencu with 1800atk points.

"Your defeat will come before the portal overloads and swallows the entire place is gone." Byakuya said.

"Go ahead and try." Tsukishima said.

"I shall. Chiron, destroy his Lencu with **Blazing Advance Retribution**." Byakuya said. Chiron pulled out both swords and used the flame from the flags to create a large fire blast. Lencu was destroyed and Tsukishima's life points dropped to 2100. "I shall end my turn there."

"It is my move." Tsukishima said as he drew his next card. "I activate my Lost Star Confusion. That allows me to summon a level five or six monster by dropping their level down to one. I summon Memory Sightseer Dragusda." A large and dark blue figure with a dragon head standing on its hind legs. It also had 2400atk points.

"Your monsters are impressive in appearance." Byakuya said.

"Wait till you see what he can do." Tsukishima said. "Thanks to Dragusda's ability allows a certain monster from my deck to come into my hand."

"What monster?" Byakuya asked.

"You're about to see." Tsukishima said as he drew a new card. "I'm only able to summon this monster when I have Dragusda on the field. I release Memory Sightseer Dragusda so that I can summon Memory Sightseer Damugaru." The monster changed into one of red glowing energy giant with a dragon's face and had 2900atk points.

"This could prove to be a problem." Byakuya said.

"You haven't seen anything yet. Damugaru, attack his Chiron with **Devastating Shock Demise**." Tsukishima said. The energy being caused a power buildup in his claw. Damugaru slammed its claw down on Chrion and he was destroyed with Byakuya's life points going down to 2900.

"Chiron's ability can now activate." Byakuya said. "When he's destroyed, all cards in my hand go back to my deck. After that, I can shuffle them up and draw three new cards." That's just what Byakuya did.

"Those three cards better be worth it." Tsukishima said.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see." Byakuya said.

"There's something else I should tell you." Tsukishima said. "When Damugaru destroys a monster, he can take away half of your life points." Damugaru unleashed a mighty roar that brought Byakuya's life points dropped to 1450. Tsukishima looked down at the last card in his hand, Book of the End. 'He'll have to summon a powerful monster in order to combat my monster and that's where I'll have him. I'll defeat him and use my skills to have him fight for us. I can't be defeated.' He thought. "That will be the end of my turn for now."

"My move." Byakuya said.

"You know, there isn't much time left." Tsukishima said. "You might be able to make it out of here with just seconds to spare."

"I never surrender to the enemy. This duel is not over." Byakuya said. Byakuya's putting up a good fight, but will he make it before time runs out?

…..

Kugo

Kugo kept running and running with Ichigo behind him. The two of them were running up a set of stairs. Ichigo was trying to catch his breath and was trying to figure out what Kugo was up to.

"It looks like we're heading for the roof." Ichigo said. "Kugo, what's the points of this? Are you just stalling for time?"

"I just thought we should have a grand stage for the finale is all. What's the matter?" Kugo said. "Are you having trouble keeping up?"

"That's it." Ichigo said as he kept going after him. 'I don't know what's going on in your head, but I'm going to stop you one way or the other.'

…

Orihime

Orihime just stood by and watch as people on computers were doing their best to control the portal, but it wasn't looking good. She saw a timer going down and there was less than six minutes left. She looked at a security camera and saw the portal was flowing out of control with sparks coming from the mechanics.

"This isn't good." Orihime said. "Shouldn't we evacuate the building?"

"No. We can make it." Sajin said.

"What if you don't? I don't understand why you're refusing to leave." Orihime said.

"Because this a result from us." Toshiro said. "Kugo was once a part of this, but we've asked him to do things he didn't want to do. Looking back, before we met Ichigo Kurosaki, we did act rather callous. It's thanks to him that we've changed our ways. If it we do end up being pulled into the duel monster spirit world, then it shall be our atonement for all that we've done. If you wish to leave, go." Orihime wanted to, but she didn't want to leave her friends behind either.

"Sir, I think we've just about got it." That was surprising and excellent news for all of them.

"Are you certain?" Sajin asked.

"Yes. We almost just about have it."

"Hurry." Toshiro said as the clock kept ticking with four minutes remaining. All of the computer experts worked as hard and as fast as they could to beat the clock. Each passing second was precious.

"Come on. Please." Orihime pleaded as she was hoping for the best. It seemed like the portal was about to blow, but it did not. The portal and the systems around it have shut down and everything has settled.

"All the systems have been reset and restored. The portal is back under our control." That was a big relief to Orihime.

"Be still my beating heart." Orihime said.

"Excellent. All that's left is to apprehend our intruders. There's nowhere left for them to hide." Sajin said.

"That's true. It's all on Ichigo and Byakuya." Toshiro said.

…..

Byakuya

"Attention! The disaster has been averted." Toshiro said through a PA system and that message was received to everyone in the building and it was big relief to all of them.

"It would seem your plans have failed." Byakuya said. "All that is left is for me to apprehend you. It would also seem that my statement will be true."

"Excuse me?" Tsukishima said.

"I claimed I would defeat before the portal opens." Byakuya said. "Since the portal will never open now, I will be able to defeat you at any time."

"You still think you can win? Those are some bold words." Tsukishima said.

"You're about to see how right I am." Byakuya said as he drew his next card. "I activate Sakura Bloom. This will cause two Sakura Tree tokens to grow on my field." Two cherry blossom trees came out and had no defense points. "Next, I unite my fire attribute, level four tokens." The two of them became red energy and the two came together. "I unite summon Senbonzakura." A samurai warrior with a red mask came out on the field with 3000atk points.

'Perfect. This is the perfect time to activate Book of the End.' Tsukishima thought.

"I activate Guards of the Palace." Byakuya said. "By paying 1500LP at the end of my turn, I can activate all traps in my hand."

'He doesn't have enough life points for that card. He must be planning to end this now. I'll end this before he does. If I take away his only monster, he can't do attack.' Tsukishima thought. "I activate my spell card."

"Wrong. Guards of the Palace prevents you from activating any of your spell and traps." Byakuya said and he had Tsukishima trapped. With no cards in his hand and nothing to stop Byakuya, he's helpless. "I activate Alluring Beauty. This trap forces your monster with the lowest attack points to attack."

"But Darmugaru only has 100atk points less than Senbonzakura." Tsukishima said as his monster was reaching out to attack.

"I know. That is why I'm activating Spiral Flash Step." Byakuya said. "When your monster is attacking, this allows my monster to attack you directly even when it's not my turn." Byakuya disappeared and reappeared right behind Tsukishima. Tsukishima turned to see the monster and was met with a sword slashing him down and all of his life points dropped to nothing.

"No." Tsukishima said as he dropped to his knees. "This can't be happening."

"I must admit that I actually enjoyed this duel." Byakuya said. "There were actually a couple instances that I wasn't quite sure if I would make it. I thank you for this match. All that is left is for your leader to fall and I know Ichigo Kurosaki will make that happen."

….

Ichigo

Kugo heard the announcement as well, but that didn't stop him. Kugo went through a door and he ended up on the roof. Ichigo was able to catch up to him with him trying to catch his breath.

"Guess I don't need to worry about getting a workout for a little while." Ichigo said. He pulled himself back together and stood facing against Kugo. "It's over, Kugo. Your plan has failed."

"Do you think I'll give up that easily because of it? If I'm going down, I'm at least going down with a fight." Kugo said.

"I was actually hoping you say something like that." Ichigo said. "I owe you a lot of payback for all that you've done to me and my friends."

"Is that so?" Kugo said. "Very well. I accept your challenge, Ichigo. I'm actually glad that you will be my opponent. You and I are a lot alike."

"We're nothing alike! Don't you dare compare me to you." Ichigo said. "I would never manipulate others the way you have. I understand that you hate what you had to do when you worked with these people, but this isn't the answer. My only question is why did you have to drag me and my friends into this?"

"I've heard a lot about you." Kugo said. "I figured you had to be working with these people. I knew I needed to get you out of your way and if I brought your friends into the picture and use despair and rage against you, I could take you down all the more easily. I guess I should have done a better job because you came back."

"It wouldn't have matter. I would have come regardless of the circumstances." Ichigo said. "I consider the people here my allies. I can't forgive or forget anyone that attacks my friends. Kugo, I'm stopping you right now." The final showdown has begun and there is no turning back.


	23. Cross the Cross

When word got out that the portal was under control, everyone felt safe. Rukia with Chad and Renji were running down the halls until they came across the room with Orihime in as well as Sajin and Toshiro.

"Orihime!" Rukia called out. Orihime turned around and was glad to see them.

"Rukia! Chad and Renji!" Orihime cheered as she went over to them. "I'm so glad to see you're all alright."

"We're glad you're alright too." Rukia said.

"Orihime, weren't you with Ichigo and Uryu?" Chad said.

"Yeah. Where are those two?" Renji said.

"Uryu tried to get control of the portal, but I guess he couldn't." Orihime said. "He's somewhere around the building. As for Ichigo, he went after Kugo. It looks like the two of them headed for the roof."

"What about the rest of Xcution? Riruka managed to slip away." Rukia said.

"Byakuya was able to bring down Tsukishima." Sajin said.

"My brother defeated Tsukishima!" Rukia said as she was glad that her brother did and relief that he didn't fall under Tsukishima's power.

"I defeated one of the intruders myself. Since Renji was able to defeat one and Kenpachi took care of the other, it seems this Kugo is the only one left." Toshiro said.

"So that means that it's all up to Ichigo." Chad said.

"Then we have nothing to worry about." Orihime said with full confidence in the man she loved. "I know Ichigo won't let us down." As soon as she said that, all of them believed that he won't either.

…

Ichigo

The danger has been averted and almost everyone in Xcution has been defeated. Ichigo has followed Kugo all the way to the top of the Soul Society building. All that was left is for Kugo and Ichigo to have one last match against each other.

"I hope you're ready. One way or the other, this will be our final duel." Kugo said.

"You're right." Ichigo said. "I'm putting an end to this. So let's do it already." He slid on his duel disk and he was ready to fight. Kugo did the same as both of them were set to end this.

"Let's duel!" Both of them said as they both had 4000LP.

"The first move is mine. I draw." Ichigo said as he drew his first card. "I summon Reaper of Spirits in attack mode." His reaper rose on the field with a total of 1700atk points. "I place two cards facedown and end my turn."

"It's my turn." Kugo said. "Let me introduce you to Scaffold Trooper." A white trooper with a skull mask came on the field and had 1000atk points. "Next, I'm activating the Scaffold Assembly Line. This allows me to bring out two more Scaffold Troopers." Two more rose on the field with 1000atk points.

"So what? They don't have enough attack points to take on my Reaper of Spirits." Ichigo said.

"He's not your target. I'm activating Scaffold March. Move in, men." Kugo said as his soldiers started moving in and got in close to take aim at Ichigo, but they looked out of breath.

"What's the matter with them? Looks like you pushed them too hard." Ichigo said.

"That might be true. My spell might cut my monster's attack points in half, but it allows them to attack you directly." Kugo said. All of their attack points dropped to 500. All of them fired at Ichigo and each blast hit him with his life points dropping to 2500.

"Okay. Not really a good start." Ichigo said.

"It's only going to get worse for you. I place one face-down and that's it for me." Kugo said. "Since it's the end of my turn, I have my monsters get their strength back." All of his troops regained strength back to 1000.

"My turn!" Ichigo said as he drew his next card. "I summon my Swordsman of the Black Blade in attack mode." His swordsman rose to the field and his attack points were at 1900. "Next, I'll have my monsters tear apart your troops. Reaper of Spirits, you're first!" His reaper went for the attack.

"I don't think so." Kugo said. "I activate Scaffold Frame. This trap keeps my Scaffold monsters from being destroyed and the damage is cut in half." A wall of bones formed and blocked the attack. Kugo felt the impact of the attack and his life points dropped down to 3650.

"That won't stop my Swordsman of the Black Blade if I'm still able to attack." Ichigo said and it was his swordsman's turn. His swordsman slashed down on the wall and Kugo's life points went down 3200.

"Taking any chance you can to deal damage. Such tenacity I see." Kugo said.

"Shut your mouth. It's your turn now." Ichigo said. 'He doesn't know anything about Tensa Zangetsu. I better save that for when I really need it.' He thought.

"My turn." Kugo said as he drew his next card. "I'm activating my Six Feet Under spell. This spell allows me to see all your face-downs and I can decide which one to destroy." Both of Ichigo's face-downs went up and revealed to be two traps. "Light Up Dark. By sacrificing a monster, you could stop an attack. You also have Soul of Defense. You'll be able to summon a monster in defense mode. I also won't be able to attack the same turn. Trying to play smart and reserve those cards for when you need it, but that isn't going to work. I choose to destroy Soul of Defense."

"Fine." Ichigo said as the card was destroyed. "If it takes every card in my deck, I'll find some way to beat you."

"We'll see about that." Kugo said. "I summon my Scaffold Bishop to the field." His bishop rose to the field with 400atk points. "Next, I unite my dark attribute, all three level two Scaffold Troopers with my level three Scaffold Bishop." The four monsters became dark energy and combined together. "I unite summon Cross of Scaffold!" His ace monster rose on the field and had 3200atk points.

'Cross of Scaffold. That's his best monster.' Ichigo thought. 'I remember when we tag dueled against Tsukishima. If I remember correctly, Cross of Scaffold can remove a monster from play one monster after it attacks. I also remember that when Cross of Scaffold runs out of unite units, it can deal 3000 points of damage. He can also take out any monster beforehand. Kugo must have held back on its full potential when facing against Tsukishima even though he was under his hypnosis.'

"You better keep your head in the duel." Kugo said. "The special ability of my troops can now activate. When one is used in unite summon, I can draw one card. Since I used three, I can draw three cards." He drew those three cards and he seemed quite pleased with what he got. "Next, I play Unity Combust."

"Unity Combust?!" Ichigo said as he wasn't expecting him to play that card.

"I take it you know what this does based on your reaction." Kugo said. "Unity Combustion can take two unite units of a monster and you take 400 points of damage for each one." Two unite units shot out and turned into fireballs that blasted Ichigo and his life points dropped to 1700.

"Is that all you've got?" Ichigo said.

"Not even close." Kugo said. "I'm going to activate my Ribcage spell. This spell allows me to destroy one of your spell or trap cards if I negate my monster's special abilities." A set of bones rose out and pinched Ichigo's facedown card and destroyed it.

"Why would you do that? Even if I used my trap, both my monsters would be taken out." Ichigo said.

"I have my reasons." Kugo said. "I don't want this duel to be over too quickly. Cross of Scaffold, attack and destroy his Reaper of Spirits with **Cross Slice Demolition**!" His monster stored up bright green energy around his sword and slashed it down. The blast tore through the roof and destroyed Ichigo's reaper with Ichigo's life points dropping all the way down to just 200. "See what I mean? If I would have used Cross of Scaffold's ability to take out on monster, you still would have used your trap and would have taken no damage. You have no chance of beating me, Ichigo."

"Keep talking. I'll get you to zip that mouth of yours eventually." Ichigo said.

"I think that's enough punishment for one turn. Make your next move." Kugo said.

"Here I go!" Ichigo said as he placed his hand on his deck. 'This isn't looking good. I've got no defenses. If he uses those other two unite units, he'll have none left and deal 3000 points of damage. I've got to stop him from using that ability.' Ichigo was putting his faith in his deck and drew his next card. What he drew was just what he needed.

"Did you get something good? You're going to need it." Kugo said.

"You're about to find out. First, I'll switch my swordsman into defense mode." Ichigo said. His swordsman went down on one knee and had 1200def points. "I'll also summon a monster in defense mode." 'My facedown monster is Twin Shield Blocker and as soon as it's flipped over, he'll deal 800 points of damage.' "I'll also place one card facedown to end my turn."

"That's it? I was expecting more." Kugo said as he drew his next card. "I think I'll have my Cross of Scaffold attack your Swordsman of the Black Blade. **Cross Slice Demolition**!" His monster unleashed the attack again and slashed down on Ichigo's monster and destroyed it. "After Cross of Scaffold attacks, I can use his ability. I use one unite unit to remove your facedown monster from play." One unit entered the sword and slashed down on Ichigo's Twin Shield Blocker.

"One more unit and I'm done for." Ichigo said.

"You don't have to wait. I activate Mach Soul." Kugo said. "In exchange for one monster, I can draw a brand new card." He sacrificed his Cross of Scaffold and drew a new card. "I activate Monster Reborn and bring back my Cross of Scaffold." His monster returned to the field and had no unit units left. "It's over because since Cross of Scaffold has no unite units, you lose 3000LP." His monster build up power and slashed down on Ichigo and it seemed like there was nothing to protect him.

To Be Continued…


	24. One Sword Against Another

"There it is!" Ikkaku said. He and Yumichika were running towards the Soul Society to help out Ichigo and the others.

"Hey! Ikkaku! Yumichika!" They both looked behind them and saw Rangiku with Tatsuki, Keigo, and Mizuiro.

"You guys heard what's going on with Ichigo too?" Yumichika asked.

"That's right." Rangiku said.

"Rangiku came and got us when she heard what was going on with Ichigo." Tatsuki said.

"That's right. We came here to help. I don't care how scary or tough these guys are." Keigo said as he tried to act brave, but was really a nervous wreck. "Ichigo needs our help."

"Hold on." Mizuiro said as he took out the phone and used a zoom in feature. He had it aimed on the roof and saw Ichigo dueling Kugo. "It looks like Ichigo is in a duel right now."

"He is? How is he doing?" Tatsuki said.

"It doesn't look good." Mizuiro said.

…

Ichigo

"Cross of Scaffold, finish him and this duel." Kugo said as his monster was about to slash down on Ichigo. Ichigo only had 200LP remaining. Since Cross of Scaffold had no unite units, he is able to deal 3000 points of damage.

"Not so fast." Ichigo said. "I'm activating my trap, Escape from Despair." A force field was brought around Ichigo and the attack was stopped.

"What happened? Why didn't that work?" Kugo said.

"Escape from Despair is a trap that blocks out any damage I would have taken from a special ability." Ichigo said. "It also restores my life points by half of the damage I would have taken." Ichigo's life points rose up to 1700, but that leaves Ichigo with nothing on the field.

"Not bad." Kugo said. Kugo had his Cross of Scaffold on the field that had 3200atk points. Kugo had 3200LP as well. "Too bad you won't be able to use that trap again. As soon as you destroy my Cross of Scaffold, I'll find a way to bring him back and you'll suffer 3000 more points of damage."

"And I'll stop it all the same." Ichigo said.

"Make your next move. I place one card facedown." Kugo said.

"Here goes!" Ichigo said as he drew his next card. 'There's only one monster in my entire deck that can handle that Cross of Scaffold. It's now or never.' He thought. "I summon Soul Siege in attack mode." Soul Siege rose on the field with 1400atk points. "Next, I'm going to activate Twice the Element. This spell allows me to summon another monster on the field as long as it's the same attribute as a monster I have on the field. Because Soul Siege is a dark attribute, a second dark attribute monster can come out and join the party. I summon Soul Seizer." His mysterious cloaked man rose on the field with 1500atk points.

"Two dark attribute monsters that are level four?!" Kugo said. He understood what Ichigo was trying to do, but he didn't know what he was going to bring out because he knew of only one monster Ichigo had that fit this description.

"I unite my level four, dark attribute Soul Siege and Soul Seizer!" Ichigo said. The two monsters became dark energy that came together. "I unite summon Tensa Zangetsu!" His newly added Tensa Zangetsu came out on the field with 2500atk points.

"Zangetsu?! How can that be?" Kugo said. "I tore that card up myself. There's no way you could still have it."

"Take a closer look and read the card, dope." Ichigo said. "This is Tensa Zangetsu. He has the same ability and power as Zangetsu, but he is considered a different card. He has a different name and a different look."

"Fine. I don't understand how or why you have that card, but I'll take him down just like before." Kugo said.

"I don't think so." Ichigo said. "I activate Tensa Zangetsu's ability. I use one unite unit to increase his attack points by half of one of the monsters that was used to summon him. This time, I'll use two of them." Both of the unite units entered Tensa Zangetsu's entered his blade. "Also, while his attack points increase, your monster will be losing attack points." Tensa Zangetsu's attack points increased to 3950 while Cross of Scaffold's decreased 1750.

"Am I suppose to be intimidated?" Kugo said.

"You should be." Ichigo said. "Attack with **Advance Heaven Pierce**!" Tensa Zangetsu unleashed a powerful slash that slashed through the roof and even the sky.

"Not so fast, Ichigo." Kugo said. "I activate Bone Barricade. Thanks to this trap, when a Scaffold monster is being attack, I take no damage and my monster is safe." A bone wall was formed and shielded Cross of Scaffold from the attack. Kugo still felt the power from that attack as he was pushed back and near the edge of the roof. When the shockwaves settled, Kugo walked back to his space. "Whoa! That's some power he's packing."

"You might have escaped this time, but I'll get you next time." Ichigo said. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"Since it's the end of you turn, then our monsters have their attack points return to normal." Kugo said as their monsters returned to 2500 and 3200. "With all the talk you've been letting out, I thought you would have put up more of a fight."

"You haven't seen anything yet." Ichigo said. "At least I know I'm safe. Cross of Scaffold's ability only works once each time it's brought to the field without any unite units."

"Let's see what you can do." Kugo said as he started his next turn. "Cross of Scaffold, take down his new Zangetsu with **Cross Slice Demolition**!" Cross of Scaffold build up power in his claymore sword.

"I don't think so. I activate Training Mannequin." Ichigo said. "Since you've launched an attack, I can summon another monster to take the attack. I bring out Kon the Lion." His little stuffed animal jumped out on the field with 300atk points. "I activate Kon's ability. If I sacrifice him, I can put an end to your attack and I take no damage." Cross of Scaffold slashed down and unleashed the attack, but Kon jumped in the attack and was able to stop it with his destruction.

"Darn it. You can't keep avoiding me, Ichigo." Kugo said. "I'll end my turn for now."

"You know that neither of us can avoid that both of our monsters will have to clash against each other." Ichigo said.

"Perhaps, but it will be the end of you once they do." Kugo said.

"It's the other way around." Ichigo said. Both keep trying to get at the other, but something keeps getting in the way. Just as two swords keep clashing against the other, these two keep clashing against each other.

…..

Uryu

"Orihime?! Chad?! Where are you guys?" Uryu said as he was still trying to find the others even after the danger has went away. Renji stepped out in front of him from the next room.

"Uryu, we're all in here." Renji said. Uryu followed him inside and saw all the others except Ichigo inside.

"Uryu, I'm glad to see you're alright." Rukia said.

"I'm glad to see you're all safe. What about Ichigo? Where is he?" Uryu asked.

"Look." Chad said. Uryu looked on the screens and saw Ichigo was dueling Kugo on the roof.

"He's dueling Kugo?! Are you sure that's a good idea after what happened last time?" Uryu said.

"You don't need to worry about that, Uryu." Orihime said. "He won't fall for the same tricks before. We just need to have faith in him."

"I hope that's enough. What about the rest of Xcution?" Uryu said.

"All of them have been captured except for that one girl with the pink hair in pigtails: Riruka." Rukia said.

"Yeah. She just ran off and disappeared in the middle of her duel against Rukia." Renji said.

"So where is she now?" Uryu said.

…..

Riruka

Riruka actually made it all the way to the roof. The entire time she has been watching the duel between Kugo and Ichigo and neither of them has even noticed she was there.

"It's my turn now!" Ichigo said as he drew his next card. "I'm activating Donation of Unity. If I give up 400 of my life points, a unite monster on my field gains two unite units." His life points dropped down to 1300 and two unite units went to Tensa Zangetsu. "This time, I'm only going to use one unite unit to use Tensa Zangetsu's ability and give him the attack points of Soul Siege." One unit entered Tensa Zangetsu's blade and his attack points rose to 3200 while Cross of Scaffold's went down to 2500.

"He's only using one this time?" Kugo said.

"Attack!" Ichigo commanded. Tensa Zangetsu unleashed the attack and slashed down on the Cross of Scaffold and this time he was destroyed and Kugo's life points dropped down to 2500. "I think that will be enough for now. Your turn." He said as Tensa Zangetsu's attack points returned to normal.

"Here I go." Kugo said and took his next card. "I summon Scaffold Priest." A white robed man with bones on him came on the field with 200atk points. "I use my priest's ability. By sending him to the graveyard, a spell card comes back into my hand." His priest left the field and a card came back into his hand. "Care to take a guess at what the card is?"

"I already know." Ichigo said.

"That's right. It's Monster Reborn!" Kugo said. "Cross of Scaffold, return!" His monster returned to the field. "It's all over because Cross of scaffold can take out 3000 of your life points." His monster build up power and launched the attack, but Tensa Zangetsu stepped in and blocked the attack. "What happened?"

"I'm sorry. Did I forget to mention Donation of Unity has another ability." Ichigo said. "As long as there is at least one unite unit with my monster, he can't be destroyed an all damage I take is reduced to nothing."

"So that's why you saved one of your unite units." Kugo said. "I must say that I'm actually impressed, but it's time I put this to an end."

"Whatever you have, I'm ready for it." Ichigo said.

"Oh, you can't be ready for what I have planned." Kugo said.

To Be Continued….


	25. A Duelist's Journey Ends

Kugo's and Ichigo's duel was still going. Kugo had 2500LP with his Cross of Scaffold with 3200atk points. Ichigo had 1300LP and he had his Tensa Zangetsu at 2500atk points. Kugo also claimed that he had something planned for Ichigo.

"Here we go. It's time we put an end to this." Kugo said. "I'm about to show you Cross of Scaffold's true power."

"True power?!" Ichigo said.

"That's right. I think you know this method." Kugo said as pink aura was forming around him. "Unitetion evolution!"

"What?!" Ichigo said as he was completely amazed Kugo is able to pull it off.

"That's right, Ichigo! I'm able to do it to!" Kugo said. A vortex opened up with Cross of Scaffold diving right in. A bright light exploded in front of them and Cross of Scaffold transformed. "Appear, Cross of Scaffold Crimson." His outfit became tighter with a red fur collar, white hair, and a cross over his face. He also had energy jetting out of his back and formed an X. It also had 3200atk points and an extra unite unit.

"I've got to say, impressive monster." Ichigo said. "However, don't forget that I still have the effects of my Donation of Unity. As long as Tensa Zangetsu has at least one unite unit, he can't be destroyed and I take no damage."

"I know all of that, but I have something else in stored." Kugo said. "I'm activating the effect of my Cross of Scaffold Crimson. By giving up one unite unit, his effect comes in on my next turn." One unit entered the sword and his monster was powering up a pink energy beam.

"What ability?" Ichigo said.

"Come my next turn, all your monsters are removed from play." Kugo said. "After that, you take damage equal to the attack points of your Tensa Zangetsu. Since that doesn't count as being destroyed, Tensa Zangetsu won't survive and neither will you."

"So I have to end this on this turn." Ichigo said.

"That's right, but it won't be easy." Kugo said. "Since my Cross of Scaffold Crimson is all out of unite units, he can't be destroyed and you can't possibly gain enough attack points to end this on this turn."

'It's over.' Riruka thought as she was watching the duel in person the whole time just as everyone was watching on a screen. 'I don't see how Ichigo can win this.'

"Ichigo, I won't hold it against you if you want to surrender." Kugo offered. "You're going to lose either way."

"No!" Ichigo said that was a surprise to both of them. "I refuse to surrender. You messed with me and my friends, Kugo. My friends at my school and the friends I have here."

"You consider the people that work here your friends?" Kugo said.

"Of course I do." Ichigo said. "I was just an ordinary duelist before I met these guys. I probably still be just dueling around for really no good reason. When I met the people that work here in the Soul Society, they gave me a real reason to duel. I learned that I duel for my friends. They made me the person I am by pushing me and challenging me. I believe dueling forms bonds that can't be erased. You would have those bonds too, but you're too far in your desire for revenge."

"Bonds? Friends?" Kugo wondered. He wondered if that could have been him. Would it still be the same if they came to Ichigo before Kugo?

"You chose to do this to yourself and I am going to be the one to end it!" Ichigo said as he drew his next card. "Perfect. The one card that can save me. It's time I unleash the true power of Tensa Zangetsu. Unitetion evolution!" The vortex reopened and Tensa Zangetsu dived inside. "Appear, Tensa Zangetsu Moon!" Tensa Zangetsu came out with him in black clothes with three X's across the chest and over his arms. His hair turned black with spikes. He held a black sword with a few protrusions and a long chain. He also had 2500atk points.

"Tensa Zangetsu Moon?! Impressive, but it's still not enough." Kugo said.

"That's where you're wrong. I'm activating Full Heavy Chained Moon." Ichigo said. "By lowering my life points to 100, I can double Tensa Zangetsu Moon's attack points. There's more. Since you have a monster whose attack points are higher than his original, all your monster's attack points are added in as well."

"That's a total of 5700!" Kugo said.

"And that brings him to 8200atk points." Ichigo said as his life points dropped all the way to 100 and Tensa Zangetsu Moon's attack points rose up to 8200.

"That still won't help you thanks to my monster's ability." Kugo said.

"That's where you're wrong. I activate Tensa Zangetsu Moon's ability." Ichigo said. "I use one unite unit to activate his ability. I can negate the effects of a spell, trap, or monster effect. I choose monster effect." One unite unit entered his sword and unleashed energy and nullified the power of Kugo's monster.

"No way!" Kugo said as there was nothing he can do to stop it.

"This is where it ends, Kugo. Go, Tensa Zangetsu Moon! Attack with all of your might and end this!" Tensa Zangetsu Moon flew up to the sky with the moon behind him and unleashed a bright black and red aura. He slashed with a tremendous amount of power behind it. Cross of Scaffold Crimson was slashed down as his sword broke and was destroyed. Kugo lost all of his life points with the entire building shaking and getting torn up from the impact. Kugo dropped down in defeat with Ichigo standing as the winner.

"He actually won!" Riruka said as she was amazed by what she just saw. "I can't believe a card…a duelist could have so much power."

"Not bad." Kugo said as he tried to stand up. "Ichigo, you are a true duelist. I wonder if things could have gone differently if the Soul Society got to you before me."

"Perhaps. Ever since I came across them, this place seems to have changed. They were going to destroy the spirit world, but they've changed since I came into their lives. You could have changed things too if you would have dropped your desire for revenge."

"He's right." Both of them finally noticed that Riruka was there the whole time.

"Riruka!" Kugo said.

"You could be using your skills for good, Kugo." Riruka said.

"Maybe." Kugo grinned before the roof gave in under him and he fell through the floors.

"Kugo!" Ichigo shouted as he and Riruka plummet down. Kugo was actually glad things ended the way they have as he descended down and actually fell through the portal never to be seen again. "He's gone!"

"Perhaps it's for the best. You saved him from himself, Ichigo. Thank you." Riruka said.

…

Few Days Later

"It's been some time since Xcution was beaten." Ichigo narrated. "Kugo appears to be gone forever. As for the rest of Xcution, they've all been released and are now moving on with their lives. I think I heard that Yukio guy said he was going to work on his company and have the former members of Xcution work for him."

Ichigo stared out into the vast sky above as he thought about all that has happened. As much as he hated to admit it, he had wondered if things would be different if Ichigo became part of the Soul Society instead of Kugo.

"Ichigo!" He looked behind him and saw Orihime was there. "Are you still thinking about Kugo?"

"Yeah." Ichigo said. "We've both been through a lot of life changing experiences, but we both ended up differently."

"You did, but you shouldn't keep thinking about." Orihime said. "If you keep thinking about the past, what Kugo has been like, you'll miss what's right in front of you." Ichigo thought about it and saw she was right. He can't change the past, but he can move forward.

"You're right." Ichigo said as he pulled her in and kissed her. Meanwhile, neither of them were aware that Davis was at the top of a roof building. He was quite proud of what Ichigo has done.

"So is that the boy you were telling me about?" Davis looked behind him and saw Ross was there as he walked over and stood next to him.

"That's him alright." Davis said. "He's become quite the duelist. He's faced despair and faced some powerful opponents. I think it's safe to say this journey of his comes to an end." Davis turned away acknowledging the kind of duelist Ichigo has become.

"You know what they say." Ross said. "When one journey ends, another begins….even if that journey doesn't involve him." He turned around and followed Davis.

"Ichigo!" Ichigo and Orihime looked ahead and saw all of their friends together and as they all stood under the light of the sun, Ichigo took in the moment as Orihime took his hand and they both headed towards him.

"I've faced many enemies. I've faced many challenges." Ichigo narrated. "I've seen people duel for different reasons. There were some that are good and some were selfish or evil. I never would have thought that I would fight the forces of evil and end up saving the entire world or lives, but that's not what makes all this great in my opinion. What makes it all great is the friends that I've made and I would give up everything for them." With that, Ichigo continues on as he faces all challenges with those bonds he's made.


End file.
